THE INDEPENDENT ~ vot~ X1V?NO. 711. y ELIZABETH CITY, N. C FRIDAY, MARCH 31,1922. t. w.?. .. ' vri_ ? '' I 506 E. K.trin? Bt.. ElWth City. M. O. JI J>0 A YEAR TO ASK COMMISSIONERS TO KEEP THEIR PLEDGE County Commissioners Violated Solemn Contract By Refusal To Finish Work of Tick Eradi cation In This County Tick eradication is still a live ^sue in Pasquotank, spite of the death blow aimed at it by the bounty Commissioners last month in refusing to make an appropriation to finish the work in this county. The Commis sioners will be besieged by rep resentatives of the Elizabeth City Chamber of Commerce, the Retail Merchants Association, the Rotary Club and progressive farmers and business men gen erally. at the next meeting of the commissioners in this city, Monday. April 3. Again the Commissioners will be asked to ush the work of tick eradica te in this county or admit that they have ruthlessly thrown away over S8.000 of the taxpay ers* money in a fool experiment. The County Commissioners will be I that they have violated a sol . creement ai.d broken faith with *?? e : ad Federal authorities as well as v ? e progressive stock growers of - county, in their refusal to carry ?u the work, t ?i ?\t. 4. 1020. the Commissioners a courraet with the Bureau of .v m.d Industry of the l". S. Pepart ? r t?f Agriculture and the North Car Pepartmedt of Agriculture, agree ,? to maintain inspection and quaran : and premises in Pasquotank ('"? ;nty. to be released from quarantine. ?:r.ril all cattle and all premises have >>?11 found to be free of the cattle fe ver tick." The contract was signed by X. Bur . Chairman: W. J. F. Spencc. J. R. 1'. ??>. J. F. Corbett. I\ G. Pritchard, ' 15. Munden and R. S. Pritchard. But after entering into this agree nr and getting Pasquotank released i quarantin- : after spending over i n 'ii tick eradication Tlnd having ? d up s.",i? 0f the 1.000 herds in i-ounty, the Commissioners refuse ike an appropriation to clean up r?muining 130 infested herds, with t result that the county is in worse > "n than it was before a dollar v - M'ent on eradication. The county !? : worse condition because S30 herds .??tie freed from ticks are no long i : *i>k immune and are in imminent c -r of infection from the remaiuing ? 1 herd<. The Commissioners say they are op ; - i ro carrying on the work because don't know when it will end: that t. y have already spent more money they wre told the work would -r: that they would never have en : into the work at all had they that r would drag on year after They say they thought the coun ? would be rid of all ticks in a year, i y Lave already put up for three y.-ar~ and are not sure that another v r will see the end of the expense. State ami federal agents admit t! ? the work lias lagged :t? " 'quo nil has co-t excessively, ut they !? whole blame upon the Commis ? i ' and their, friends who hare r i ro give the work the co-operation ? sited and required. There remains I" infected herds in Pasquotank after ? years of tick eradication because >i owners of these herds have not co rated and have been encouraged in ? r non-co-operation by the Commis si ners, and defended in law by E. F. V ilett. Mr. Aydlett has. for the tick i - he got out of it. fought tick erad ition work in Pasquotank and blocked i progress continually until forced in 1 defeat by court decisions that came ' > late to enable the State and Fed ? agents to elean up the county last i-ar. Pasquotank has resisted tick lu ation for three years and has 150 I cr d herds still to be treated before county is tick free. Chowan Coun r . just 30 miles away began its tick i lieation work N only a year ago and - only 45 infected herds at this time. ? iiowan has made a better record be M isc Chowan has co-operated. When ij | free rangers of Chowan tried to ?tuploy counsel to fight tick eradica i ? :i. not a lawyer in Edenton would take their case. They came to Eliza i" th City and retained Mr. Aydlett. And now the Commissioners are go ng to be asked to reconsider their re nt retrogression, get back into favor it I: the State and Federal authorities vill(?; Ohio. ' PREPARING FOR DRESS-UP WEEK At First Signs of Spring Local Merchants Spring a Good Idea After sitting back quietly for the past three months .waiting for business to get back to "nor malcy," Elizabeth City merch ants have decided to inject a lit tle pep into the situation them selves by celebrating a Dress-Up Week from April 4th to April 8th. The idea of Dress-Up Week is merely the idea of a huge spring opening of all the stores in this city at one designated time instead of being spread out for a period of weeks as has been the custom heretofore. If plans suggested by the Merchants' Association are carried out Dress-Up Week will be celebrated in gala fash ion. A committee has been hard at work all this week to secure out-of town attractions here to provide enter tainment for the week, and besides a band will furnish music every day to enliven things up a bit. On opening day, next Tuesday, all stores will have their windows curtained off thruout the day until 7:30 p. m. when a signal will be given by the fire siren to remove the curtains and on that night the judges will make an in spection of the various windows award ing prizes to the window most elabr r ately decorated, the best selling window ana rne mosr original winuow. .ine Elizabeth City band will furnish music on .opening night from 7:30 to 0 p. m. and all stores will be open but not for selling purposes. To add to the gaiety of the occasion every store in town will dress up their fronts, an expert decorator being brought here for this sole purpose and the merchants agree to dress up the interiors of their stores as well, show ing much new merchandise at such at tractive prices as to be very appealing. An expert window dresser from anoth er city will judge the various window displays on the last day of Dress-l'p Week and the store having the most attractively dressed window will be awarded a cash prize. With this prize as an extra incentive, windows in local shops will doubtless surpass any ever before decorated here. Other prizes to be given will be a $15.00 Superior Lock Steering Wheel by the Auto & Gas Engine Works to the newest Ford, and a $10.00 auto mobile tire will be given to the oldest Ford and a $5.00 spotlight or horn will be given to the Ford that comes the greatest distance, llesides these prizes the Merchants' Association will give a prize of $10.00 in cash to the vehicle, not necessarily an antomibile. bringing the largest crowd to town, wide an other $10.00 prize will be given to the vehicle coming the longest distance and still another $10.00 to the most dilapi dated vehicle. In other words, an own er of an old discarded surry will almost get enough in cash to buy a new outfit should he come a long enough distance and bring a crowd of his neighbors with him. These prizes will be awarded Saturday, April 8th, and all partici pating vehicles must park in the lot in rear of the First & Citizens National Bank, entries to be filed between 2 p. m. and 3 p. m. of that day. Something else entirely new to this city will be the automobile show, in which all automobile dealers in the city will have on exhibit on Main Street the latest models of the various makes represented here. Space will be set aside in the middle of the street for this exhibit which will probably extend over two city blocks. In another block will be the exhibit of the Elizabeth City Fire Department No. 1. showing their three high-powered motor trucks and pumps as well as the equipment used before the modern day truck came into use. Another feature showing progressive ness among the local merchants is that all windows will remain illuminated un til late at night. Merchants here have been slow to realize the real advertis ing value of their windows after dark and very few have taken advantage of the fact that a well illuminated window is a silent advertiser. Everything considered, Dress-Up Week will not only mean a big thing to the buying public but also will prove of an unquestionable value to the mer chants not from the standpoint of sales alone, but it will demonstrate to them the value of concerted action and co operation. MISTAKE IN PENDER'S AD. Fender's butter will be 41 cents in sfead of 43 which price is in their ad on another page. This butter is the best obtainable and by buying it you save the price of fancy cartons. That's Higgs?Hat on, Ready to Go T. L. HIGGS IF you can't do a man's work, get oft the job; and if you want to know what a man's work is, follow me and see how I do it! That's Thomas L. Higgs, En gineer to the Pasquotank Highway Commission. Higgs is the toughest, liveliest, hardest working son-of-a-gun ever brought to Pasquotank County. He is not content to boss a job of road building, but when the work doesn't go to suit him he pitches in and does a day laborer's work, day in and day out if necessary till he has shown every man on the job what he wants done and how fast he wants it done. And men work like beavers for Higgs because they know that Higgs knows what a man can do. He got over 3,000 feet of brick road laid on the Newland project last week. And now Tom Higgs is taking on a little work on the side. His job with the Pasquotank Highway Commission may go with the finish of certain construction work this summer. He expects to stay right onin Elizabeth City just the same, anticipating enough sewerage, drainage, pav ing. mapping, land surveying, etc. to keep him busy. Photo by Bayard Wooten. ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO CONVICT CRANKS Powerful Influences in This City Be lieved To Secretly Back Them in Crime Lloyd Crank, sentenced to two years | on the roads in a ease of prostitution J in the Recorders' Court here on Wed nesday March S, went scot free when a j jury in the Superior Court here last week acquitted him of the charge. His! brother Charlie Crank who drew two years in the Recorders' Court for pros- 1 titution and the theft of an automobile | was convicted ouly on the charge of I theft in the Superior Court and sen- j teneed to one year in the penitentiary, j On the night of Sunday, March 5, an automobile was stolen from in front of! the McAdaius revival tent on Parson age St. Three days later Charlie and j Lloyd Crank. Otis Itland, Lee ?Overman and two 13-year-old girls by the name of Harris were found in a Xegro cabin near Elizabeth City. The car was found ditched near Weeksville, nine miles i from town. Charlie Crank confessed to the theft of the car. The two Cranks were sentenced to two years on the roads each and the girls held for Samareand Manor, the state reform in stitution for wayward girls. But, as is usually the case, the Cranks appealed to the higher eourt and with able coun sel laughed defiance in the face of the State. E. F. Aydlett and Martin Simp son represented the Harris girls^ W. I,. Cohoon and P. W. MeMullan rep resented the Cranks. Solicitor Ehringhaus boiled when the jury returned a verdict of not guilty in the ease of Lloyd Crank. Among other things, Mr. Ehringhaus said: "I know that the most lecherous, venal influ ences in this community cluster about that man and others. "I am willing to make affidavit," de clared ..Solicitor Ehringhaus in Superior Court Saturday morning "that Lloyd Crank came into my office during the Winder trial, and talked with me about his efforts to get testimony to impugn the character and good name of the prosecuting witness in that trial; and that he admitted that he knew nothing against the character of that witness. I have evidence that he has been re ceiving money from Winder." The difficulty in convicting the Cranks is believed to lie in the fact that they are the servitors in immor ality of influential and wealthy men in the community: and that when they get in trouble they threaten to tell what they know about their respectable 'pa trons, compelling them to employ the best lawyers for them and use their influence with venal jurors. The jurors in the Crank case were: E. It. Norris, O. M. Wynn, J. L. Pen dleton, IT. D. Dozier, II. F. Thornton, W. C. Godfrey, M. M. Hurdle, A. L. Phelps, C. A. Bright, L. I. Berry, Ern est White and A. 0. Smith. Last week's term of the Superior Court in this city was called "The Crank Special." The Cranks crowd the docket of every term of the Superior Court in this county. It would be in teresting to know just who pays their bills. THE INDEPENDENT does the bet ter class of job printing. MOTORCYCLE POLICEMAN WILL NOT BE TAKEN OFF Joy Riders on the Weeksville Road Will Still Have to "Watch Their Step" The announcement several weeks ago by the County Board of Commissioners that they were going to dispense ith the motorcycle policeman after April 1st brought about cpiite n bit of criti cism and caused many petitions to be sent to the board to reconsider their previous action. Whether or not senti ment of the public had anything to do with it. there seems to be little likeli hood that this county will be without a motorcycle cop except for a few days after April 1st. The whole truth of the matter is that the board does not look with any especial favor upon Smith, the present officer. It seems that his extravagance in gasoline and cartridges to his pistol, besides his lack of mechanical knowledge of his motor cycle make him an expensive man for the county. Xot wishing to offend his sensibilities, the Board of Commission ers didn't fire him but decided to de clare the job vacant after April 1st? for a few days at least. And in the meantime they are looking for a good man for the job. OFFICER ANDERSONS MISTAKEN CLUE A woman's trunk, which was found behind the gas plant recently, has giv en the police considerable trouble. The trunk, it is said contained a quantity of clothes and some letters belonging to a female. Chief of Police Ilolmes wrote to the address which the letters fur nished but has not yet received any answer. tTpon failure of the owner to reply, Officer Anderson, who fotind the trunk, recalled seeing a grave which had been recently dug nearby. Nothing daunted by a sign on the grave, and thinking he would solve the mystery, he proceed ed to dig it up. Officer Anderson will hereafter believe in signs as he found (just what the sign read, "Fido, our , darling dog." , CHEAP LENSES There are no bargain days nor substitutes for good eye glasses. Cheaper materials can be substituted for al most anything except a cor rectly fitted lense. "Cheap" lenses oftentimes cause trouble of a more serious nature-than the de fects they are supposed to correct. Only people who have been trained | to recognize defects of vision and I to know how to make a proper I correction are capable of advising ( on such an important subject as lenses. Avoid trouble by consulting reliable professional people and taking their advice. DR. J. D. HATHAWAY Optometrist Bradford Bldg. Elizabeth City, N. C. THE MIRACLE OF MARY'S BUCKET Thousands Profess To Find Sign From God in Bottom of a Rusty Pail By W. 0. SAUNDERS. Chloride of solium, alum or some other chemical commonly found in the water of shallow pumps and wells in this city, acting upon the bottom of a rusted zinc pail upon which a sediihent of sand or clay was encrusted, wrought an exquisite fern like pattern in the bottom of the pail one night last week and half of Elizabeth City has gone wild over that old zinc bucket. Thousands of people who never saw God in a blade of grass, a dog fennel, a thistle, an oak or a thunderstorm, have professed to find God in the bot tom of that old zinc bucket, owned by a religious old colored washer woman over on Juniper St. Mary Perry, 50 years old, an ignor ant but industrious and pious negress, left an old zinc bucket by her pump one night last week. She is sure she left enough water in the bucket to "catch" the pump next morning: but next lporning the water was missing from the bucket and on the dry bot tom of the pail, on which a thin film of clay had deposited and become fixed, there were the most beautiful tracings of what appeared to be exquisite fern leaves. The patterns are there and they are beautiful. Unacquainted with the mysteries of chemistry, the colored people, most of whom are sure they are as close to God to-day as Moses was when he talked to Jehovah in a burn iue bush, believe that God has put a sign in the bottom of that bucket; and now they are waiting for somebody to interpret the sign. But no interpreta tion that does not satisfy the supersti tious mind will be accepted. Mrs. Liz zie McAdams, the woman evangelist, has taken a look at the bucket and en courages the belief of the colored peo ple that God hath wrought in Mary Perry's bucket. Hundreds of people have flocked daily to the little shanty on Juniper St. and Mary has had to lay aside her washing while she exhibits the bucket, charging curiosity seekers five cents a head for taking up her time. She says she has no right to charge any one for looking at something God put in her bucket, because that belongs to God; but she does charge for her time lost in show ing the bucket. Since Mary discovered the unique crystallization in the bottom of her bucket, the story of the mystery h'as grown until hundreds of people both white and colored have magnified the thing and stretched their own imagina tions until they will tell you with all seriousness that there are perfect pic tures of a mam and a woman in the. bucket. Many have seen the man and woman in a tree. Still others say they can see soldiers marching and are sure it is a portent of another war. I have looked into the bucket and examined it closely. I have seen similar pat terns made by frost on a window pane and by the crystallization of different minerals in minute particles. That is all the mystery there is to the now famous bucket: tho my explanation will not convince Mary Perry on Juniper St. who has been so thrilled and in toxicated by the notoriety she has got ten. that she now believes that she is an inspired and divinely appointed cus todian of a modern miracle wrought by the Most High for the mystification of latter day scorners and skeptics. GRAND JURY WOULD END AUTO SPOONiNG Want Motorcycle Cops To Look Into All Parked Cars In Country After Dark Spooning after nightfall in automo biles parked on the highways and in the shady lanes of Pasquotank after nightfall is going to be a dangerous pastime this summer, if a recommenda tion of the Grand Jury in the Superior Court of this county last week is car ried out by the county commissioners. The Grand Jury took cognizance of the fact that the position of motorcycle policeman has been ordered abolished after April 1 and asked the county com missioners to restore the motorcycle police and enlarge his powers. The grand jury would have the motorcycle police especially instructed to investi gate every darkened automobile found parked in any suspicions place after nightfall, with a view to locating cou ples engaged in spooning. The idea is to put an-end so far as possible to the use of the automobile in immoral traffic, it being a notorious fact that scores of boys, girls and older people take to the church grounds, river shores and other unfrequented places for illicit spooning in the good old sum mer time. , Some wag has suggested that the Grand Jury had a grudge against mo torcycle policemen and was fixing for some cop to get his head shot off while nosing around and prying into automo biles after dark. EDITOR OFF FOR THE WEEK It is seldom that the editor of THE INDEPENDENT leaves his work for more than a day at a time, but this week he is out of touch and away from the smell of printers' ink for the whole week, having left here Monday morn ing to join Governor Morrison and par I ty on a trip over the Sounds. FIGURES ON THE UPKEEP OF ROADS 'Evidence Is That Pasquotank Made No Mistake In Build ing With Brick Cement roads are pretty things and fine to ride on, but they are an expens ive luxury and the evidence is that brick, with all of its objectionable fea tures, is the best type of road for tax payers to build. The American Lum berman, Chicago, which may be regard ed as an unbiased authority, has been publishing some facts and figures on road upkeep recently that should be of interest to Pasquotank County tax payers. The figures go a long way to vindicate the Pasquotank Highway Commission's partiality to brick roads. Back in 1913 engineers laid part of the main thorofare between Philadel phia and New York in 26 sections as follows: seven of vitrified" brick; five of cement concrete; six of bituminous con crete and eight of bituminous macadam. The Bureau of Highways of the city of Philadelphia has just made public its findings as to the wearing qualities of the various types of pavement of which the highway was. constructed. According to the report the sections paved with vitrified brick have cost the least in annual repair and maintenance, and the sections covered with different varieties of cement concrete have cost the' most. The actual figures on up keep cost per square yard per year are, for vitrified brick, eight-tenths of a cent and, for cement concrete, 17 cents. Bituminous concrete types have cost 12 cents a square yard each year for main tenance and bituminous macadam, seven cents. These figures, if stated on the basis of a mile of HWoot roadway, would re sult in the following yearly up-keep costs; cement concrete, .$1,652.12, bitu minous concrete. $1,124.58, bituminous macadam, $693.70 and vitrified brick, $76.98. A number of states, as for example, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York are keeping accurate maintenance records, separating the cost of the sur face proper from the cost on ditching, shoulders, bridges, etc. In Illinois, for instaixee, brick and concrete types are listed as follows in the last report of the state highway commission, the figures showing the av erage cost for one year of repairing the surface, of a mile of 18-foot road way : Concrete, cement, $42.24. Brick, all types, $6.33. In Ohio, the records are even more complete, revealing the following main tenance costs for one year and ifer mile of all widths: Brick, rigid types, $23. Concrete, cement, $98. Gravel, rolled, $313. Concrete, bituminous, $345. Macadam, waterbound, $381. Macadam, bituminous, $385. THE MOTORCYCLE "COP" AND HIS SPEEDOMETER Speedometer May Tell How Fast the Policeman Is Going, But Not the Other Fellow A motorcycle policeman's speedom eter may accurately tell how fast the motorcycle is going in pursuit of an au tomobile, but it does not necessarily register the speed of the automobile that is being pursued. Such was the contention of W. O. Saunders in a case on appeal in the Superior Court here the other day, in which Saunders was charged with driving his car at a speed in excess of thirty miles an hour. The County's Motorcycle Officer Smith swore that his speedometer showed Saunders to have taken a speed of 30 miles an hour on the Weeksvil'e Road on the evening of Jan. 30, 1022. Smith says he took the speed between two points admittedly hardly more than half a mile apart. Saunders proved that he was going slowly on the ap proach to this point and was going not faster than 12 to. 15 miles on hour a half mile beyond the point in question. Saunders was arrested at the end of the brick road and contended that Officer Smith had to speed his own machine up to 36 miles an hour to overtake him. It was proved that Smith was 75 to 100 feet in the rear of Saunders' car when the two passed the home of Matthew Reed, just a few hundred feet from the end of the road. Saunders conducted his own case and told the jury to use their own common sense and he would cheerfully accept their verdict, whether guilty or not guilty. The jury by its verdict ex pressed a popular belief in the infallibil ity of motorcycle policemen and their speedometers. THIS LAW SHOULD BE ENFORCED There is a law in this state that reads that all vehicles must have a light after nightfall, but bicycle rid ers and horse drivers seem to ignore it to a great extent in the city and vi cinity. Most of the accidents that have happened lately can be traced to the lack of lights and the enforcement of this law would help a lot to eliminate the danger of night riding. A DESERVING PRIZE WINNER. Rev. and Mrs. Charles Baine, of this city, won the prize of a bible offered at the McAdams tent meeting Sunday afternoon to the couple bringing the largest number of their own children. The Baine family was eleven strong and Mr. Baine stated that there was one more somewhere that he was un able to round up at the time. But with I one shy he won in a walk away. GOVERNOR GETS AN INSPIRATION "Cam" Morrison Says North Carolina Must and Shall Have More Fish By W. 0. SAUNDERS. With Governor Morrison and Party on Board N. C. F. C. S. S. Atlantic Governor Morrison is learn ing something about the fishing industry in North Carolina and constructive fish legislation is going to have a powerful and resourceful ally in the Governor when he gets back from his cruise over the North Carolina Sounds with members of the North Carolina Fisheries Com mission this week. Beginning at Edenton Tuesday morn ing Governor Morrison began to learn nbout the decadence of what was once one of the state's greatest industries and he is fired with a determination to back any legislation or any practical de mand for a state appropriation to put more fish and shell fish in North Caro lina waters. Governor Morrison is am bitious to enlarge the scope and powers of the State Fisheries Commission, to establish state fish hatcheries for the propagation of native varieties of fish, to stock every stream and pond and lake in North Carolina with edible fish. [ Some important rules and regulations may emanate from the State Fisheries Commission following a meeting of the Bpnrd at Edenton Monday. The Com missioners'made an investigation of the artificial propagation of shad at the TT. S. Govt. Fish Hatchery at Edenton and the Commissioners are convinced that this fish hatchery is a serious menace instead of a help to the industry. It is believed that the governmenr s mern ods are destroying millions of fish for every thousand successfully propagated by their lnbrntory methods. I am go ing to tell about this next week. With the closing of the inlets North of Ilatteras; with altogether too many pound nets in the inland sounds and with the natural spawning of shad on the spawning grounds of Albemarle Sound obstructed by government exper iments that are in effect hardly better than vandalism, the shad hasn't much more than a ghost of a show in North Carolina inland waters to-day. Some thing drastic must be done to save the industry or in a few years there will be nothing left to save and thousands of families on the fishing banks of North Carolina will have to seek an other means of livelihood. SAUNDERS INVITED TO ADDRESS GIRLS' SCHOOL Elizabeth City Editor Invited To De liver Commencement Address W. O. Saunders, editor of THE IN DEPENDENT has been invited to de liver the Commencement address for the Pineland School for Girls at Salem burg, N. C., Friday, May 19, 1922. Mr. Saunders has accepted the invitation, tho commencement addresses are some what out of his line. Perhaps he can string enough selected editorials to- ' gether to make it. The Pineland School Fot* Girls is one of the most remarkable educational in stitutions in the South. It is the achievement and triumph of a remark able woman struggling against great odds in a backward community remote from a railroad. In the midst of pov erty and illiteracy Mrs. W. ,T. Jones has built up a pretentious school with a plant and equipment that would do credit to many endowed institutions. Governors, U. S. Senators, Judges and distinguished educators have delivered the commencement addresses in the past. EASTER TUESDAY WILL BE A BIG DAY HERE v A Bridge tournament and Mardi Gras will be put on in this city the Tuesday following Easter for the bene fit of the Community Hospital ambu lance fund. The afternoon will be ex clusively for the ladies but the night tournament will be for everybody. There will be exhibition dancing and refreshments will be sold. Tbe com mittee intends to have this a big time. Tickets are to be sold at a dollar a couple. The last day of Dress-Up Week. April 8, will be ambulance Tag Day. All the money raised from these two days will go toward the hospital am bulance. START ERECTING WAREHOUSE The new community bonded ware house was started this week and will be ready for business by the sarly fall. S. B. Parsons, a local broker, is financ ing it. J. P. Kramer is the architect. By the way the work has progressed during the week it would seem that it will be finished on schedule time, but the drawback seems to be that the ship ments of bricks are not coming in fast enough. The warehouse is located on the corner of Burgess and Water Sts. and in a very convenient part of the , city. It is being built in such a way that it can be made larger easily and by the way things look now that is likely. Besides the storage of cotton, corn, soy beans and other farm crops this warehouse will be used by jobbers and wholesalers for the stornge of any kind of merchandise that is ~ shipped here in carload lots to be broken up into smaller quantities. All patrons of the I warehouse will be provided with full fire protection.