VOLUME XL1I, NO. :ts CONSOUDATIONOF COUNTIES IS URGED; IN ADDRESS BY ALi Raleigh TSefttre Packed to Capacity -v? Former New York Governor Speak* in Behalf of Gardner Program. One Thousand People Stand Outside to Get Glimpse of National Figure. Uses "Plain Talk." i Raleigh. N. C,?Alfred E. Smith, forme*- Governor uf New York, caiftt to North Carolina Monday and vigorously endorsed Governor Gardner's program to reorganize State government, consolidate counties and abolish night work for women anil t dren in industry. The Democratic Presidential candidate in 1928 spoke to a joint meet rug of the General Assembly in the State Theatre on one of the few occasions the State's law-makers have ever met formally outside the walls ?.r * 1? -? *?? uic iai?noi. The theatre was {iacked to capacity and a throng: of move than 1,000 stood outside the doors to hear the address by radio. Smith, speaking plain lauguugc, gave the Gardner program a vigor ous boost as he lauded the Brookings report on governmental reorganization needed in North Carolina and suggested that the State have only three elective officers?the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Auditor. His entire discourse centered about his experiences with similar reorganization work in New York and the satisfactory results attained. During his stay in Raleigh. GovI erno'r Smith was asked many pointed political questions by newspapermen, but gave out little information. Of thf. prospect of his again being ihe standard bearer of his party, he said: '*1 have such a high regard for the leadership of the Democratic party that f don't think anybody ever accomplished anything by seeking it." A luncheon was tendered he andj Mrs. Smith during their Raleigh vis-| it by Governor and Mrs. Gardner, to which severul officials and le&is-j latere were invited. Civic Club Organized At Rnnn? CIL- I ur??. Liin. i^aoi TV CCKr The men j)f Banner Elk held a meeting at noon Wednesday of last week at Banner Elk Hotel, loolring to the formation of a civic eltib in the town. A delightful dinner was served i? the eighteen present, Mr. K. L. L.owe , making the address of welcome. The formal meeting was opened with mayor by Rev. W. R. Smith and B short talks were given by Charles T. Zimmerman, Or. Tate, F. W. Von I ^anhbiy; F.- ill. ^fStinsohi Professor^ Caswoli, ;J.V C. Shell, mayor, E. T. , Ertckson and Mr. Tufts. Organization proceedings were carried through and the following, officers named. Chas. Zimmerman, president; R. L. Lowe, vice-president; F. W. Von Cannon, seercttory and treasurer.^ It was decided for the club to meet every Thursday at 7 o'clock at Banner Elk Hotel for supper and business. A name will be decided upon later by the members. i - ^ 'V; ^ Mild Weather PrevailedDuring the-Past Month Observer J. T. C. Wright's report for February, shows that during that month temperatures in Boone avev-j aged 36 degrees, and that fourteen j oi. mt iwemy-eignt pays were clear. The report in full follows: Average maximum temperature, 18 degrees. Average minimum temperature, < 24 degrees. r'; . Average temperature, 36 degrees. ! Average daily nhtige in temperature. 21 degrees. Greatest daily range in tempera- J tr.re, So degrees; dote, Gth. Average temperature at C p. m. 3 (time of observation), 43 degrees. : Highest temperature reached, 58 ? degrees; date, 7th and 8th. i "Lowest temperature reached. 9 degrees; date, 11th. ? Number of days with freezing tern- < pevature, 26. 1 Number inches of rainfall (ihclud- 1 ing melted snow), 1.78. 1 Number.inches of snowfall, 3.35. ' Greatest rainfall-in 21 hours, 0.66; 3 more rainfall, 8. < Number of clear days, 14. Number of cloudy days. 10. < Number of partly cloudy days, 1. 11 Direction of the prevailing wind, { Dates of heavy frost, 3rd, 5th, 23rd j 1 and 27th. Dates of fogs, 9th. Other phenomena described as fol-; lows: Solar halos. 5th, 8th, 12th, 1 16th, 24 th, 25th, 27th; lunar halo. 27th. , | . The actual value of lespedeza as; : a soil-improving crop will be tested : in a soil building demonstration for five years on four or five plots of poor land in Rowan County by W. G. Yeagcr, County Agent. A Non-Partisan N< BOONE j Ends Long Service || F. M. SIMMONS Veteran North Carolina Senator Retires After Thirty Years of Service New Bern, N. C.?Furnifold MtLendell Simmons, whose half a century in public life has drawn him into some of the bitterest political battle.s of his generation, Wednesday ended thirty years in the United States Senate qgietly at his home in ? this city. Surrounded by his children and, grandchildren, the 77-year-old veteran chatted informally of the graphic political era. of which he was a parti Always more or less averse to publicity, he was unchanged in this respect. Jovial and in excellent spirits, he appeared to experience the keenest delight at the visit of a daughter who "dropped in" to tell him of the fun his grandchildren were having: in a snowstorm that visited New Bern Tuesday. The grizzled statesman who first rose to national prominence as "the little giant of white supremacy" in the hectic North Carolina polittcal struggle of 1898-1000, was not in Washington attending Congress, because his physician's orders forbade it. State's Farm Income Reduced Last-Year The farmers of North Carolina received $42,760,355 less money during: 1930 than they did in 1922, according: to the N. C. Farm Business, published by I he State College Extension Service. In 1922, the net farm cash income Was $104,470,000 and, in ! 930, this income was approximately $02,000,000, a decrease of 41 per cent. East yi?niv:; cash receipts were $192,342,622, farm cash expenses wove $131,123.120, leaving; only $01,719,097 fdr fanners of the State lto3 use in pnv Jj ing taxes, buying clothe?, paying bills for food, feodj^ fertilizer and other expenses. . -: The average net cash iheoinc-"for 1 the year from 1922 t.o 1930 was $33,472,309. The 1980 net cash income was approximately $10,000,000 less than in 1929. 'This condition in the Sfate, which is very serious, is due! to ihe Ibvvxu pvitfes of cot ion. tobae-j co and peanuts in particular. Cotton | declined from 10.4 cent.- a pound in J 1929 to 9.5 cents: tobacco, from 13 j cents to less than M cents: and uca-j. nuts also. The low pVico of cotton was due to a world ovei-supply of .\vnerican cotton, which increased from 10,320,000 bales in 1920 to 20,513,000 hales in '.930. with a corresponding drop in use of cotttui by mills. Tobacco stocks on hand in [-reaso^l from 1,312,000,000 pounds in 1929-30 to 1, 200,000,000 in 1.13031, despite a small inccrease i:i the use of cigarettes. Reduction of these three crops is necessary in order to obtain a price which will cover the cost of producrigin this year, the bulletin sryvs. The State government is urged to co-operate in every possible way. The . bulletin goes on to say: "There is evidence that the world' situation will not improve rapidlyj luring the next year or so. If the j present production of cotton contin-! jes with a falling off in- purchasing; power of our customers, then North j Carolina farmers will find themselves j in dire circumstances in 1931 and| L932. "Referring to the tobacco sit-j nation, the bulletin says that, if thej uitvp ;u> hoc cut matenany, "inaica-j Lions are that North Carolina producers will experience during 1931! one of the most disastrous years I since the war." DON WYLER, 4, DIES AT HOME IN COSHOCTON, OHIO! A letter received by friends in! Boone states that Don, foilr-year-oldj son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred WylerJ died at the home of his parents in: Coshocton, Ohio, on Saturday, Feb-' ruary 21. Mrs. Wyler, previous toj marriage, was Miss Margaret Hodges, daughter of Mr. and Mrs'. Adam j Hodges, and was reared near Boone. I fhr family spent several weeks with! relatives in Watauga last summer. j swspaper, Devoteri to the WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH C Bill Introduc Would Ine* Raleigh, N. C.?The Town of Todd, located In the two conn lira of Watauga and A.shc, is to be incorporated. if the bill introduced in the General Assembly by Representatives Ira T. Johnston of Ashe and R. T. Greer of Watauga is enacted. Todd, with a population of 92 iw IS20 and with 104 in 1930, is to be in the form of an exact oclagr.n, the boundary to be computed at thrre-fourths of a mile from an iron stake now at the east corner of the postofficc, in the eight directions the four points of the compass and the four intermediate points. li/irriiTft fimmimr timfltuft luunii CONTAINS .27 OF I PCT. N. C. WEALTH Figure* Released by Life Insurance Sales Bureau Show That This County Is "Smai! Potato" in Tarhcolia. Forsyth Contains 8.76 Per Cent* of Weall'i. Craven and Moore Are Two Average Counties. Raleigh. N. C.?Watauga County contains .27 of 1 tun* cent, of the tola! wealth in North Carolina and o-l000th of one tier cent, of the entire wealth in the United States, according to an analysis made of North Carolina counties by the Life Insurance Sales Research Bureau, of Hartford, Conn., and published in North Carolina's ''Conservation and Industry." Thirteen of the 100 counties contain more than half of 50.31 per cent, of the entire State wealth, this compilation shows. Headed by For-; s.vth with 8.76 per vuzit. of the State's wealth, th'c other dozen are Mecklenburg, Guilford,/ Buncombe, Wake, Durham, Gaston. New Hanover. Rowan. Edgecombe, Rockingham, Alamance and Cabarrus. Nine of the thirteen are in the Piedmont. Craven and Moore are the two avyrage counties Or- the Stat?, each having" 1 per 1 cent, of* th'r Stated wealth. Forsyth County's wealth exceeds, that of 3D and almost equals that of the 10 less wealth counties of the State. Mecklenburg's; wealth exceeds! that of the last o-t in the list; Guil-i ford's exceeds that of the last 3-1, j while Buncombe's wealth is gveaterj than that combined of the last 28: counties in Lh^ list. This analysis of wealth and buy-} jng power is based on six factors, the insurable population, or number of white literate males ove^twenty years old; number of personal income returns; number of those whosej incomes exceed $5,GOO; number of! passenger automobiles; the value add-j ed by manufacture, and the circula-i tibn of three popular magazines. j .Mrs. Lizzie Huffman, an aped resident of the Blowing Rock section,, died at her home on February 20. Meager details state- that funeral, sei vices and burial look place the day following. : : l . _____? ? Current Evei From the "Ft Ar^syvr. CVJLL,C.Ot MC.KULR 1 The administration bill to brin? about a consolidation of the University of North Carolina, Stale College and North Carolina College for Women was given a unanimously favorable report by .the House committee on reorganization Tuesday. SHOALS BILL VETOED President Hoover's veto of the Muscle Shoals bill was sustained Tuesday night by the Senate. The bill, which the President said squarely presented the issue of r government operation an competition ^ ith private interests, was killed when its friends failed to obtain the two-thirds vote neces- j sary to pass it over a veto. . j MT. PISOAH ROAD An all weather motor road, six j and one-half long and 22 feet wide * | up Mount Pisgah, is included in a j new fcif'msy program for Piigsh j National Forest, according to word j coming from M. A. Mattoon, supervisor of the area. TO STOP NIGHT WORK , The North Carolina House - has j approved the bill of Representative Newman, of New Hanover, to prevent night work in mills for women under 18 .years of age. The measure now goes to the Senate. Best Interests of Northwt AROLINA, THURSDAY, MARCH I ^ed in House irporate Todd The officer* ate to consist of a. ! ! mayor, three Jildcrmes .and a mar- j | shal, the aldermen having author- ? itjr to elect a secretary, treasurer j and tar. collector. The hill names as i i mayor, W. C?. Cook, and as alder- j men, T. A. McGuire, J. L. Miller and H. M. Winkler, to serve until i an election to be Aeld the first Monday in May, 2 931. The hoard ! ciecb the marshal. ' The aldermen, to be known as commissioners, are given full authority under tlin laws of the j State. They are limited in I 'Tying taxes to 50 cents on the poll and IS cents on the $100 valuation of property. OTDr a */? nm i iimnM 01IIIVMTI rVLLU 1 ni l PROHIBITED IN BILL OF LOCAL SENATOR Lovill and Harmon Sponsor Measure Which Would Make It an Offense to Dump Treetops and Branches Into Streams cf Watauga and Avery Counties. Passes Senate and; Goes to House Saturday. i'.aloigli, N. 0. Seimidfs W hi. Lovill of Watauira and Koy A. Hat moil of Avcrv have inlamucod a bill in the General Assembly which makes it unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to throw or permit to be thrown into the streams of Avery and Wataujra counties any tree bps 'or branches, thus i at polling: or hin-j j derihg: the flow of tlu: stream. The hill makes such act a tnisde- \ ! meaner, punishable fl?y fine or inv-j ! prison me nt,, jut the discretion of tliej court. The hill was passed by the Senate Saturday and sent to the< House. It^ text follows: Section 1. That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to throw or permit to .be thrown i any laps or branches of trees in the (streams of Avery ami Waluuifr: cnun-. j tics. Section 2. That anyone violating this act shull he guilty of a mtsdei0.eftnot\ and. gpoh conviction^ >hal! Wftivcd or imprisoned in the discretion of the court Section 2. That al! laws and clau.s| cs of laws in conflict with tl.c pt.oI visions of this act arc hereby re| pealed. Section 4. That this act dudl he inI full force and effect from arid niter j rlls ratification. I . I Appalachian Defeats King College, 33-29 ! Appalachian State College's Monr.' tainecivs flashed out in the last tbvee i minutes of play here JasB Thursday ! r?ight to repulse, a throat from King I College and turn back the invaders : by a .score of 3d to 20 at basket ball. King held.;the lead at half time, i 1-1 to 10, hut Apnalachain State came back. The lead switched hands I several times in the last half. The j ! teams were deadlocked at 2G all withthree minuter to go and Coach John-i |--stonV. team went to work to win tne.j I game. j nts Gathered nir Corners" . 5 HEFLIN'S FAREWELL ATTACK 1 ^ i Unable to speak above a whisper, j Senator Hef^in, Democrat, of Ala- , i bama, retired to his bed Tuesday j with a badly attained set of vocal ' cords resulting^ from a farewell j attack of two hours on A1 Smith i and John J. Raskob. He was ex- j peeled back on the floor today when his 27 years cf service in j Congress will end. He wj> defeat- j ed by John H. Bankhead. 250 MEN EMPLOYED Two hundred and fifty men will ; be employed in connection with | f.'ie several road building and im- *| provetnent projects which will be t underway in Pisgab National Forest for the next six months. All men are being engaged by the Droiect foremen. anJ will k? hired-at the offices of the Piifxn : National Forest located in the Fed- | era! building in Asheville. GASTOrtlA BANK TO OPEN The First National Bank of Gastonia, which was closed last December 16, will reopen before Mar1S, officials hare announced. Cash stock subscriptions amounting to $500,060 have been raised and confirmation is expected soon from the comptroller of the currency, Washington. The bank closed When j depositors withdrew approximately j $800,000 following the Athcvillc J bank failures. fy 'fygSm--.'j'I 3CRA ;st North Carolina ~ ~ r Teachers College Not Ranks Fourth in Stat The enrolment at Appalachii* State Teacher* College is now 84^ according to information comiflS from an official yesterday. WliSS,', this is a record-breaking tnrc ment for the spring term, the interesting part of the story ?*? that the local college now rare fourth in enrolment amonxj all the educational institutions of the O'd ; Worth State. Duke has the largest student body, Carolina comes ; second, with N. C. State taking j third place and Appalachia fourth, j The local institution wax made I o standard college only two years ! ago, and its remarkable sirides j have won attention throughout j many states. ~TT| C n r ouyai uruve farmer 10 Plant Large Acreage To Truck This Season Ira Eilmustob, of Sugar C?rove R.| F. 1)., whose Watauga River larmj has been a show* pi ace for many years, j was in town Friday anil told The Democrat of his plans for the com-1 ing season. One-half acre will bet planted to union* by Mr. Ed mis ten,; another 1-2 occe will be set to ruta-j hngas, still another 1-2 acre to car-] lots; five acres of string beans, two} acres of cabbage and four acies of! potatoes will complete his diversification program. He has practically finished plVnv- j ing and will begin nlanting some of the earlier crops as soon as the fi*ost recedes from the soil. The land, which is already rich, will he given j a .generous treatment of fertilizer I an?l stable manure, and will be fn-1 lensively cultivated as the plants begin growing. Using the proper. foresight, Mr. Ed mis ten has 'already : found a market for the huge crop,; and, providing the season is favor-. able, his venture will bring many additional dollars into Watauga trade channels. Mi. Rdmisten has six brothers. all of whom are tillers of the soil.) ami it can truthfully be said that: no more progressive farmers can be', found in the county than they. Aud Colvard Dies on Tuesday Morning ' ' " Mr. Aud Colvard, .'11 years obi, a resident of the Brushy Fork section near Boone, died at his home there Tuesday morning, after an illness with BrightY. disease and rheumatism of several months duration, fie had; been confined to bis room for only! two weeks. Funeral services were conducted j from Oak Grove Baptist Church on J AVednesflay^hioiiiinu- at 10 o'clock bvReverends Bob Shores and Kd Hodges ] aSqj interment was in the Hines Com-1 etery nearby. Surviving are a widow, one child,; lack, father and mother, Mr. and; Mis. N. 1.. Colvard; three brothers,! Dick, Far! and Ralph of Boone, and I two sisters, Mrs- A. 1.. Gross oft Boone ami Mrs. Perry Killian, of [ Mortimer. Mr. Oolvard was reared in this! community, was an honorable and; industrious .^citizen, a prosperous] fanner, and was well-liked by all. ; Arthur Miller Dies At Zioriville Home Mr. Arthur Miller, of Zionvillo, died at his home on Friday, February 27th. following an illness of sev-; oral months duration. Ho Was 5oi years of age. Funeral services were i conducted from Zionfille Baptist] Church, of which he was a long-' time member, Saturday afternoon, | Rev. R. C. Eggers, pastor, and Rev. j I.. A. Wilson being in charge of the rite?. A large crowd was in attend-' a nee, and following the* rurtciral burial was made in the nearby cemetery. Mr. Miller was i> well-known cat-! tkman and farmer, made friends easily and was mosi charitably dis-l posed toward the laboring man. His! untimely demise is the cause of sr?r-' row for ^ ^real concourse of admiring: acquaintances, rlc is survived by: the widow, five children, three biothers and two sisters, all of whom re-', side in Watauga County. LITTLE THOMAS JOHNSON IS INTRODUCED TO THE HOUSE ? * The Greensboro Daily News re-j cently carried the following Raleigh; news item: ; "Thomas Johnston, six-year-old , son of Representative Ira T. Johnston of Ashe County, was introduced to the House as a future Representative by Representative Crousc of Al-' leghany. Young: Mr. Johnston was accompanied to the Capital by his moth-j? or, and both had opportunity to ob^ j serve the Gentleman from Ashe act as presiding.- officer when he was! called to the Speaker's chair to pinch |: hit for Sneaker Willis Smith." . l Professor and Mrs. I. G. Greer j will give a folk-lore program at Vir-. ginia-Intermnnt College, Bristol, onj Saturday evening. j :'r i ]J8fc.: SfSii ^. ftw?. 3?:* , $1.50 PER YEAR tIalwwebster for day killing begins next week Solicitor Jones Will Ask for -Deiktr Penalty in Trial of Sensational Murder Case. Day, Former V/atau^a Mar, Died Several Week* Following Infliction of Wounds. Jealousy May Have Played Part. A news story from Wilkeshoro to State panel's hear,- the information that Solicitoi -John R. Jones stated Monday that the State will seek a first-degree verdict of murder to exact the extreme penalty against Seawell ('. Webster, former Wilkes deputy, again?i whom a grand jury working in Judge Schenck's ctouit returned a true bill the first of the week for the killing of S. E. Day, Wjlkesboro butcher and former Wataugan. ' The trial of Webster, who is a member of a well known Wilkesboro family, will be started on Tuesday moinrngj 01 u^ci week, tills ciimiyia? term being of two weeks* durationIt is expected that a special venire of at least one hundred wU! be required in order to seicct a jury, the case having been widely heralded because of the prominence of the accused. The fatal difficulty between Webster and Day is said to have been, instigated by Day's alleged attentions to Webster's stepdaughter. Webster has been held in jail since the day he surrendered voluntarily to Sheriff \V. B. So mors, a habeas corpus action tn gain his fivedonj having been denied since Day's death in a North Wilkesboro hospital some time after being sbn? through the lung. Boone Clothing Store Opening Sales Event Mr. J. E. Hudgins. of the A. A Hack Sales Company. is with the Hopne Clothing Store this week, getting all in readiness for the Opportunity Sale, which will, open with the clothiers next Saturday. Two pages of advertising in The Demo crat today have been supplemented by circulars, and a large crowd may be expected to be present when the doors open. This is the first special saK^s event to be .advertised by th'e Mnn*S TJtore, * and much interest is being manifested. The highest quality of gents furnishings. of nationally known lines, nas aiways featured the complete stock, and the prices quoted arc extremely low. Thrifty shoppers will find pages four and five exceedingly interesting. Mrs. John Heniey Dies From Paralytic Stroke Mrs. ^ohn , Henley, t>8 years old. a resident of Linvillc, (Med Tuesday at the Banner Elk Hospital, from the effects of a stroke of paralysis, according to information coming to The Democrat at press time. Mrs. Henley was an aunt of Mr. Thomas H.;' Coffey of Bio win;;- Rock. AMERICAN LEGION WILL MEET FRIDAY EVENING (Vonniaiuler Charles L. Younce of^i : Watauga Post American Legion, requests that all members attend the regular meeting to be held Friday -lioltf \1 a v/>U I* * 11 - 4.1... v, -?.?ivn wiii, in int.* iqumis over Boone Feed Company. The new bonus law will he discussed and blanks distributed to those who desire the 50 per cent. loan. COVE CREEK DOZEN CLUB MEETS WITH MISS STOKES The Cove Creek Dozen Clui> was -delightfully- entertained by Miss Blanche Stokes Saturday afiemoon.,^ Fwo topics, "Andrew .iaekson" and "She Shall Have Musk," were discus* ?d. i>\ John ; . Many humorous anecdotes sing Jackson as President were 1 by -Mrs. Hattic Johnson: Mrs. Puui -r^k.r.our gave an interesting review of Osgood's "So this Is Jazz/' and the subject, "SperiehU and Blues" was charmingly discussed by Miss Ruth Bingham. Miss Hattie Johnson assisted the hostess in serving a delicious salad course,. Guests present were Mesdame-; Stanley Harm, R. N. Brooks, Hattie Johnson, Coy Billings. John Combs, dr. ,,i n. ? - - - 4 nui 4>|mu)i]uur, aeoCT SWVIj StOKCS, Charles Bingham and Miss Ruth Bingham. ' ' ?-r~ ? Friday, March 20th. * :80, has tteen " .* definitely set as the date for tl.ejap- "V'.t ncarance of the Good Will Air Tour in North Wilkesboro. which Was' arranged for by interested and public spirited citizens some wip&t ago. The management of the Xfttki stated to Carl S. Coffey over j the telephone Tuesday moming th it the fleet planes would conic,-*'.,, the WflketV: boros from Moorefviile where they will lie on the mojfeing of March 20.