Newspapers / The Independent (Elizabeth City, … / Jan. 8, 1932, edition 1 / Page 1
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?eef i The Independent i "ss- i VOL? XXIII.; NO. 1,256. Fubi^? w. o ?.ui,a.? ? ELIZABETH CITY, N. C., FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 1932. "c""?. ,?^offlc* SINGLE COPY 5 CENTS II Why the Newspapers Refrain From Playing Up News of Fear-Crazy i People Forcing Banks to Close People Make Panics When They Lose Their Heads ? Panics Are Mass Cowardice, Easily Controlled and Subdued Where There Are Cool Heads and Leadership An Editorial By W. 0. Saunders NEWSPAPERS arc being condemned by a lot of well mean ing |>eoplc because they did not make l>ig news of the large number of liank failures in North (Carolina during the Christmas holidays. In suppressing the news of this latest outbreak of bank closings the newspapers have rendered their res|>ectivc communities and the State a great service. For banks are wrecked by fear and newspaper scare heads calculated to throw fear into the hearts of large numbers of bank depositors could wreck every bank in North Caro lina. Making big news of the bank failure in Ahoskie started an immediate run on the bank of Win toil in a neighbouring town, forcing that fine, old. conservative ami remarkably sound institution to close its doors for the protection of its depositors. As a matter of fact, a wave of fear from the crash of 1 Kinks on the other side of the Chowan River broke on this side of the river last week and might have gathered momentum and grown into a panic but for the fact that the section's coolest and wisest heads saw what was coining, were prepared for it and quietly mobilized to combat it. And the newspapers helped the situation by refraining from printing some very interesting news. There was no panic in the Albemarle last week because it was licked lief ore it got under way. And the newspapers played their part nobly by refusing to spread alarm. A panic is one of the easiest things in the world to lick if taken in time, for a panic is but mass cowardice and coward ice can always be licked if takdii in hand before it runs ainuk. But what usually happens when a panic ap|>eurs is, people try to jhioIi pooh it and say that it doesn't exist. They kid themselves and everybody around them until the |>auu: lias gained such uiolmmtnnTiftiat nothing"can sTop it. 'And some fine morning they find a frantic mob battering at the doors of their strongest banks and demanding more money than the banks are prepared to pay out at once. Banks are wrecked. Out of several thousand depositors a few hundred have got their money which they may hide in tin boxes or in old socks; but the vast majority of depositors have their savings tied up indefinitely, all business is dis organized. the buying power of the people diminished or de stroyed. business houses crash, shops and factories are forced to susjxMid work, armies of people are thrown out of em ployment, real and personal pro|>crty is thrown on the market in forced sales and the price of everything further depressed. If people would only stop to think they would not in vite the risk of wrecking a bank for the sake of saving their own hides. Many a man unthinkingly fears that if his bank closes lie will lose all. As a matter of fact he will do noth ing of the sort. In many instances he will get all or most of it back. In the case of national banks depositors as a rule j get back 80 to 00 jx-r cent. The loss a depositor takes in; leaving his money in a closed bank is far less than the loss j he may have to take as a result of the upsetting of business | and depression of property values that inevitably follows al bank failure. ' Ami when any large number of people lake llieir money i out of the fire anil burglar proof vaults of their banks they are inviting an utter loss of their savings thru the possibility of fire or burglary. Des|K?rate yeggmen and hold-up. men are looking for communities in which large numbers of i people are holding their money out of banks. Such coin- j inanities attract thieves and murderers as surely as honey attracts flies. No stronger banks exist anywhere in North Carolina than the little group here in the Albemarle region. Hut if | the panic that has siczed upon other parts of the State is I permitted to sweep this section every bank in the Albemarle i can be closed and the loss to agriculture, business and in dustry could run into far more millions than are represent ed by the liabilities of all the banks combined. To close any one of a number of banks in the Albe marle would precipitate a large number of business failures, throw hundreds of people out of employment, de press real estate and other values to a point from which they could not recover in a decade and would drive many citizens to suicide. It is a horrible picture. Hut panic is doomed when any considerable number of influential people, representing the best brains and capital of a city and its trade area see it coining, recognize it, square themselves for a fight and say with courage and decisiveness. We shall not lie down, We shall not run. A hundred and odd lirms and individuals, imbued with I he courage and leadership of the section's most courageous and resourceful citizen, Joseph 1*. Knapp, of Currituck, resolutely determining that there shall be 110 epidemic of bar and 110 panci in these parts can effectually stay oil any thing approaching hysteria and panic. It is just as simple as that. People make panics. When the leaders say there shall be 110 panic, that settles it. Yes, it is just as simple as that. t I | A Jovial Copper J NOTHING ferocious about this fat J i and jovial Elizabeth City Police i Chief. Leon Holmes. Anyway the | accompanying snapshot photo shows ! him in a jolly mood. But after his [ picture was snapped he grew very ( , serious and told a group of friends. J j "I'll bet that durned Independent is! | fixing to wiitc me up about some-J ! thing." : ! ! Lowest Prices In j Years Bring Buyers j j Into Retail Stores, ' Activity in retail merchandising; in Elizabeth City this week indicates I that people are waking up the un J prccecientcd opportunities to save .money by spending. Prices of cot ton goods, wearing apparel, furni ture and other commodities are down | to The lowest levols In years' and indications in many quarters are that prices will never be lower. | And if something should happen j 1 all of a sudden to assure the busi ! ness leaders of the country better' j times immediately ahead, prices j would surely take an upward trend. ? ? Thrifty people are beginning to1 , sense the fact that these are happy' days for buyers and there is evi- j dcncc of a growing dendency ui>on ? the part of conservative folk to take j advantage of present low prices In anticipation of highed prices ahead. I Elizabeth City and its trade area { are not broke; more than 1,000 new ( Christmas savings accounts have J been opened in the First A: Citizens ! National Bank of this city within j the past few weeks. i Gallop Case Is Tried and Ended After Two Years After draft-in? thru the courts for a period of more than two years, the case in whLh Marshall P. Gallop, local realtor, was chart ed with second degree murder in connection with the death of Tom Case and Robert Bembury, both Negroes, who were injured when the cart in which they were rid in? near Perquimans High School was struck by Mr. Gallop's car, Anally came to a close Wednesday afternoon when a jury in Perqui mans Superior Court brought in a verdict of not guilty. Mr. Gallop was enroutc to this city and had almost reached Hert ford on the night of October 17, 1929, when his Pontiac sedan crash ed into a cart in which Henry Hurdle, Tom Gordon. Tom Case and Robert Bemburv, all Negroes, were riding. Case and Ecmbury died of their Injuries and Mr. Gallop was indicted for second degree murder. The case was called time and again in Perquimans Superior Court and was postoned each time for one ?eason or another. At last, two years and two months after the fatal accident, Mr. Gallop was plac ed on trial. The State tried to show that Mr. Gallop had been drinking on the night of the accident, that the cart was completely off the high way and was carrying a lighted lantern at the time Mr. Gallop's car struck it and that Mr. Gallop was driving at an exsessive rate of speed at the time. So slim was the State's evidence in support of these con tentions that Judge Clayton Moore instructed the jury to strike out the second degree murder charge and consider only a manslaughter. charge against the defendant. This j was done and in the end Mr. Gal- ' lop secured complete vindication. | i Automobile License Plate Sales Way Ahead of Last Year i Is everybody broke? The 4,Eliz- I abeth Ctty branch of tfce Carolina.. Motor Club answers NO. Up until i noon Wednesday. Jan. 6th of this, year, Mrs. R. J. Cohoon, distributor I of automobile license plates for this city had sold 2,953 plates. At the I close of business on the same date i last year the same bureau had sold | only 2,652 plates. With all of the howling about I hard times people had bought over 300 more automobile license plates this year than last. The answer seems to be that people generally have money for things they want. , Most people have visual defects ot one sort or another. It Ls wise if your vision seems perfect to have your eyes examined. DR. J. D. HATHAWAY. Carloina Bldg. adv EASTERN N. C. FOLKS WAITING FOR OIL FLOW Benjamin E. Lamb, of Califor nia, who presumably is an oil tycoon, has been working quietly and unostentatiously in Eastern North Carolina since the fall of 19.10, with the result that he today is the lessee of 210,000 acres of land, nearly 50,000 acres is located in Chcwan, Perquimans, Gates and Bertie counties. Mr. Lamb believes oil is to be found in this section. In September, 1930, Mr. Lamb came to this section and quietly be gan to secure leases on farm lands of a certain description. This land, he explained, was very similar to land under which oil had been found in Mississippi, Texas and other of fields. He further stated that oil is to be found under the surface of the earth in virtually any given [ locality,- provided one drills deep enough. To lend emphasis to his assertions, he last summer brought to Eastern! North Carolina a geologist from1 Columbia University who went over j the region with a magnetometer1 and who said he detected beneathj the earth's surface certain rock for-1 mations and strata that correspond-! ed perfectly with formation and i strata found in other sections in' which oil had been discovered. So Mr. Lamb, who is said to be' backed by powerful financial inter-. ests in New Mexico, spent some time! in Lenoir, Carteret. Craven, Pam- i lico, Sampson, Bertie. Gates, Cho wan and Perquimans counties last year and succeeded in leasing 270, 000 acres of land for a period of two years. He leased 5.000 acres in | Gates County, 6,000 acres in Bertie j County, and around 35.000 acres in! Chowan and Perquimans counties, j Under the terms of the lease, Mr. I Lamb must set up an oil well in each | county in which he has leased land[ before the expiration of the two years. If no oil is forthcoming, he is the loser. If oil is found, thej landowners are to get cne-cighth of the value of the flow and he and rus DaCKers are 10 set mc leiunmu cr. The landowners do not have to put up one penny. Mr. Lamb and' his backers care for the expense of erecting the wells and if there is no oil they lose all they have put into the venture. If there is oil. they stand to reap handsome profits. ' Why Mr. Bcnj. E. Lamb and his financial backers are so positive or so very confident that oil is to be found in Eastern North Carolina when the State Geologist, the noted Collier Cobb. U. N. C. geology pro fessor and a recognized authority ] on geology, and other geologists have declared emphatically that c* is not to be found in commercial 1 quantities in Eastern North Caro lina is a puzzle. ] Mr. Lamb represents the Pamlico I Oil Company, which already has i erected a well in Pamlico County, ? near Aurora. Wells arc to be erected in the other counties as soon as the Pamlico County well is set in opcr- , ation. according to one landowner j who has leased several thousands of acres to Mr. Lamb. Meanwhile, I several hundred Eastern North j Carolina landowners rre sitting back , and waiting for the erection of oil ! wells and the expected flow of i' "white gold." Dr. Newby's Case Off To A Start! In Prequimansi The highly sensational murder case in which Dr. G. E. Newby. prominent Hertford physi cian. Stewart Thornton, Jewell Thornton and Johnnie Trueblood are charged with second degree murder in connection with the death of pretty, 16-year-old Thelma Gray in Albemarle Hospi tal last February, was getting underway as this newspaper went went to press, the Perquimans Grand Jury having returned a true bill in the case Wednesday at noon. Highly sensational testimony is expected to be brought out in this case. It is alleged that Thelma Gray, after yielding to her lover, Johnnie Trueblood, was induced by him to go to a filling station oper ated by Thornton and his wife for an operation. It is alleged that at least one possibly two, operations were performed upon the girl in the filling station by Dr. Newby under the most unsanitary condi tions. As the result of the poeration or operations, the girl contracted > blood poisoning and inflammation I set in, eventually causing her to die in great agony. It is expected that the defense i will attempt to prove the girl to be < of ill repute and bad character and j will try to show promiscuous inter- ,i couse with men on her part. 1 1 <rr - 7^JT 0/h?<fiANK ClEQK ?*?> TUE SODA JORKtft THE POWER OF SUGGESTION i "One of the best things that could happen to this section would be a snow storm that would snow us un der so deep that we couldn t stand around on the streets and *alk our fool heads off," said the Soda Jerker. "And maybe you're right about that,' said the Bank Clerk. "I know durn well I'm right," said the Soda Jerker; "We have too much fair weather for our own good; these warm languid days leave everybody with a let down sort of feeling and they hang around the streets, get together in little groups here and there and kill a lot or time talking. And you can't get a group of two or three or more together before somebody is talking about hard times. And before they're thru talking every fellow is convinced that everything has gone to hell and the only reason they aint building more poor houses is because they can't sell bonds to pay for 'em. "It's got so that when I start down the street and see Miles Jen nings coming I duck around the corner because I know that if Miles corners me he'll tell me that every thing's gone to hell and there'll be a revolution next week or week after next at the latest. And the country is full of fellows like Miles; good fellows you know, but just so durn panicky that they just run around putting fear in everybody's heart and spreading gloom so thick that folks wrap themselves up in j gloom instead of buying the clothes they need. And some of 'cm are j so busy chewing the rag about hardj times that they don't take time to' eat; no wonder we have a food sur plus and the farmer can't sell his hog and hominy. And so that's why j I say we need a snow storm that will snow 'em under so deep that ] they can't get out and belliakc. | Maybe if they could stay home and think things over calmly they would get rid of their jumpiness and un easiness. Most of the folks in this I tewn and section could get along pretty nicely and not worry over-1 much about our hard times if some- j body wasn't forever reminding 'cm j of it. Suggestion Is a great thing." I "I'll say it is," said the Bank j Clerk. "Reminds me of a story j Charlie Whcdbcc tells. The Sena- i tor says a Negro preacher was | exhorting his congregation on the ten commandments one Sunday morrning. When he took up the commandment that thou shalt not steal a nigger in the back of the house shouted, 'Amen, brudder. Amen!' And presently when the preacher got to the commandment that thou shalt not commit adult cry the same nigger shouted. 'Praise de Lord, brudder, praise dc Lord!' "After the services were over the preacher met the brother who had done all the shouting and congrat ulated him on having got religion. " 'No, parson,' said the nigger, 'I didn't git no religion. It wont re ligion dat made me shout. You see, Parson, when you come to dat com mandment thou shalt not steal h'j. jes reminded me that somebody had done stole my ovahcoat. And I said Amen to dat. And den when you come along and sprung dat one cr bout net commitin' sedultery hit jes reminded me whar I left my ovah roat. An' dat why I fcrgit myself and holler Praise de Lord.'" Wild Ducks and1 Geese Starving For Lack of Food! i Thousands of wild geese and ducks dependent upon the largess I of sportsmen and shooting clubs I for their Winter rations are threat- ; ened with starvation this winter, | according to Dr. J. C. Baum, | superintendent of Pine Island I Club, near Poplar Branch, N. C. i Goaded by their hunger more than | 500 wild geese came into the yard, j .of his home c ne morning this week: looking for food, said Dr. Baum who! was in Elizabeth City Tuesday. 1 Dr Baum also reports the un-; usual spectacle of wild geese for- j aging for food in the marshes, eat-.! .ing the tender shoots of grasses, a food they usually disdain. There is a scarcity of natural food , for migratory waterfowl in the ] waters of Currituck, but in former seasons any food shortage has been relieved by the shooting clubs thatj have generously baited their ponds j and shooting points during the j shooting season Pine Island Club | alone puts out 25 bushels of grain ; every day during the shooting sea- j ron. But Lord Hoover cut the re cent shooting season from ten weeks to 30 days and the birds were reduc ed to 30 days rations. When the seasop ended on Dec. 15th the shooting clubs in Currituck and ( Dare and in the Back Bay region of i Virginia quit putting out food. Given a ten weeks' season the; numerous shooting clubs around; Currituck Sound and along the coast i would have been putting out daily] rations for the birds until the first] of February. But when their shoot-; ? ing was cut off on Dec. 15th they cut off their free rations and the birds arc suffering for want of food. Few and far between arc the Joseph P. Knapps who will continue to feed the birds on his estate whether or no; the average sportsman's inter-; est in feeding the hungry geese and ducks ceases when his shooting prl- ^ vllege is taken away from him. ( Camden Young Men ? Organize Civ.' Club; A Young Men's Civic Club of Old Trap, which is raelly Just an athle tic club but which has adopted the , same name as the local Civic Club, ( has been organized and now is hold- t ing regular meetings in the audi- ( torium of the Old Trap High School, j The officers of the Club are; Ward j Mitchell, President; Roy Brockctt, , vice president; Elton Forbes, sccrc- ( tary. and Everett Burgess, treasurer. _ The club has started with twenty ^ members and expects to increase this number to fifty. Members are ! * admitted from Shiloh. Riddle. Old] Trap and neighboring communities, j x The club held meetings in the j ? nomcs of various members at first, j aut the school committee decided to' illow the young men to use the Old i THEO. MEEKINS BATTERS IZAAK WALTON LEAGUE President Dare County Chamber of Com merce Minces No Words in Controversy With So-called "Conservationists" ? ?? When the Izaak Walton League of America, Inc., so-called "de fenders of woods, waters and wild life," queried Theodore S. Meekins, President of the Dare County Chamber of Commerce, regarding the establishment of a chapter of the League in Dare County, the League started a controversy which has been going on for two months already and in which Mr. Meekins apparently thus far has bettered the League officials. The following letters between Mr. ! Meekins and G. W. Lockhart and Harold D. Fish. Izaak Walton League officials, convey some idea of I the workings of the League and also t ? gives a pretty accurate picture of \ the regard in which the League is ; held in Northeastern North Caro- f Un?: I November 12. 1931. ? Mr. T. S. Meekins, President Dare County Chamber of Commerce Manteo, North Carolina. My dear Mr. Meekins: We have your reply to our letter I of October 27. stating that Dare i County does not seem to be much ' in the League as you dont' believo our recommendations are in keeping j with a real knowledge of conditions ' j in the East. "J Of course, not being on the fi ground, we are quite unable to un- ? 'derstand completely what you have j in mind in making such a statement. We are. however, communicating with the President of the Regional j Council of North Carolina. Mr. j David Lindsay of Spindalc. asking J him to investigate this matter and if possible, talk with you relative to your problems. We would also appreciate further word from you ' as to Just exactly what it is about jl our recommendations that are not ; j in keeping with a real knowledge of U conditions in your section. I The League i# trying to work in cooperation with all interests, hav ing to do with conservation of our natural resources, and in a short j period of time has accomplished A grdat deal -in your 'state. We jfte1 confident that our progress to date I has been very sound and we exjjcct I that a great deal more will be ac- 1 compllshtd in North Carolina. | If our recommendations are not I, made with the correct understand- n Jing, we would very much appreci- I ate any advice you can give us. ? Very sincerely yours. G. W. LOCKHART, Chapter Service Department. November 17,' 1931. I Mr. G. W. Lockhart, Chicago, 111. (Dear Mr. Lockhart: i I have your letter of 12. instant | wanting to know what recommcnda i tions your League has made which I are not in keeping with conditions jjj in our section, and the statement ? that your League has done much | for North Carolina. One recommendation made by your League is the shortening of the season for wildfowl in this and other sections of the east, without any 5 provision whatever for the enforce ment of the rules or regulations. It jjs is evident to any one who knows ? conditions in this section that by this one act of the Department of Agriculture thousands ' upon thou sands of wild ducks, geese and black brant will be destroyed that otherwise would have returned to their native breeding grounds. This recommendation is not only evidence i of ignorance of real conditions in this section, but it is positive proof that your League is willing to make recommendations and insist ujxrn r them without a full knowledge of what you are doing. I do not know of any real accoin- t pllshmcnts your League has made >; in this state, except to create a few j offices for those who know nothing about game of any kind, and so far as I have been able to ascertain, careless. As a matter of fact we have in this (Dare County; more waterfowl, shore birds and other migratory game birds than any county in the 8tate, and we have other game such as bear, deer, fox es and yet there is not one dollar spent for the enforcement of a great j volumous lot of laws and regula tions promulgated by the State as j well as the Federal Government. F The same conditions exist in other counties of the State ar.d the i>coplc in this section are absolutely dis gusted with the entire outfit of the so-called game protectionist. Very truly yours, THEO. 8. MEEKINS. Pres. Dare County Chamber of j. Commerce. t November 20. 1931. Mr. Theodore 8. Meekins, President ' Dare County Chamber of Commerce , Manteo, North Carolina. Dear Mr. Meekins: The statements in your letter of I November 17 to Mr. Lockhart. bear ing upon the duck situation, are .; 'Continued on page six? n H MUCH RECOMMENDING IN PASQUOTANK AUDIT County Audit, Just Completed, Reveals | Many Faults in Record-Keeping and Accounting Systems in County Offices Changes and improvements in the accounting records of the J Sheriff's office, the bonding of all persons handling County funds, thn installation of a proper system in the office of the Clerk of Superior Court, the appointment of a clerk to the Recorder's Court, the co ordination of the records of the Trial Justice, Police Department and SheiiliTs Jail record and other changes and recommendations are contained in Bundy and !Moran's audit report of Pasquotank County : for the year ended June 30, 1931, which report is to be presented and j explained to the Board of County Commissioners by Harry W. Bundy. ; Commenting upon tne condition >f the office of N. E. Aydlett, Clerk af Superior Court, the auditors had this to say: "The accounting re cords in this office were in a deplor ibc condition, being incomplete and unsystematized. It is urgently rec jmmended that a proper system be nstallcd in this office that will con solidate various cash books and ncmorandum books now being kept ind furnish controlling accounts for ;he various funds, accounts, notes, investments, etc. Such a system v'ould greatly facilitate the work of ^our Clerk and, if properly kept, vould readily show the correct status of the various funds, etc. kept jy the Clerk at all times, whereas it s now necessary to make a detailed :heck of all the records in order to Jetermine the status of the accounts >f ttois office." In conclusion of comment upon he office of Sheriff Charles Car nine. the auditor recommended 'that necessary changes and im irovements be made in the ac counting records of the Sheriff's ifficc that will permit the entering >f all items daily as received, that ,hc Pick Up and Undivided ac :ounts be eliminated and collections >f the office be deiiositcd daily as i required by Section 19, Chapter 140, Public Laws of 1927." The audit has this to say about I the affairs of Recorder (965-10) Sa^/yer's office: 'The records of the Trial Justice were thoroughly checked and tested against the re cords of the Police Department and the Sheriff's Jail reports. As the Recorder's Court has no Clerk we were informed that L. R. Holmes, Chief of Police, collected the ma jority of the fines and costs and re- j ; mitted them to the Trial Justice, who in turn made monthly deposits of the amounts received. The re cords of the Trial Justice, Police Department and Sheriff's Jail record did not appear to be properly co ordinated, it appearing that some change should be made in the form of the Jailor's report. We suggest that consideration be given to the advisability of appointing a clerk to the Recorder's Court." The general comments went on to say: "P. G. Sawyer, Trial Justice, did not appear to be bonded. Nor did the County have a bond on L. R. Holmes, who wc were informed, collects the majority of the fines, ? etc. lor the Recorder's Court. We ' (Continued on Page Three) ' A Yuletide Bride AN attractive bride of the holiday season is Mrs. Joseph Henry Towc, af Hertford, who formerly was Miss Irene Pritchard, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Pritchard, City Route Five. The marriage took place at the home of the bride's parents on Saturday, December 26, and the young couple returned a few days ago from their honeymoon trip to Florida. They are making their home in Hertford. "W. O* To Attend Jackson Day Dinner W. O. Saunders is in Washington ;o-day to be the guest of the Na :ional Democratic Committee at the Annual Jackson Day dinner in the :apital city to-night. Another ^orth Carolinian from the First Dis :rict who will sit in at the big din ler is the Hon. Edward G. Flanagan, )f Greenville rrap high school auditorium as a neeting room. The clubi now is sponsoring box ng, wrestling and basketball and ixpccts to arrange contests with the Slizabcth City "Y" and other teams n this section in the near future.
The Independent (Elizabeth City, N.C.)
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Jan. 8, 1932, edition 1
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