SMALL DOCKET
IN CO. COURT
Only fourteen defendants appeared
before his Honor, Judge Gooch, dur
ing the past week in the Rowan Court.
This was the lightest week’s work for
the court since Judge Gooch has been
on the bench. The cases on Prosecutor
J. Allen Dunn’s docket were as fol
lows:
Eugene Williams, drunk, costs.
Charlie Riggan, larceny and receiv
ing, judgment cont. 1-15-32.
Winford Helms, beating board bill,
not guilty; larceny, 60 days on roads.
W. E. Smiley, abandonment, and
non-support not guilty.
W. D. Ingraham, violation pool
hall ordinance, cont. 12-22-31.
Mrs. Othel Shoaf, reckless driving,
cont. 12-22-31.
Howard Cauble, larceny and receiv
ing, 90 days in workhouse inoperative
on payment of $75.00 fine.
John Stallings, larceny, 7 months in
workhouse, to be released after serv
ing 4 months, and judgment further
cont. 10 months.
Willie Hudson, drunk, costs,
goods, 5 months on roads Dan Marlin,
receiving stolen goods, 60 days in
workhouse.
LABOR NEWS
By
F. T. CORNELIUS, Secretary
Salisbury-Spencer Central Labor Union
AFTER TWO YEARS
By October, 1931, two years after
the stock market collapse, depression
forces have reduced business activity to
44 per cent below normal. Certain
adjustments have been made, but
several fundamental changes have yet
to be accomplished. We have made
little progress in adjusting the distri
bution of income. The effort to avoid
wage cuts is a step in the right direc
tion and has helped to maintain work
ers incomes, but while workers have
lost nearly one third of their entire
1929 income this year and total wage
payments are back to 1922 levels we
still had 149 millionaires in 1930 which
is twice as many as at the peak of
post war prosperity and they receive
$3 50,000,000 in income. Although
many firms have reduced dividends in
1931 total dividend payments were not
far from the 1929 level. This year
through October 1,927 firms have
reduced or omitted dividends, while
in. manufacturing iiidustries alone, 2,
600 firms have reduced wages, over
3,000 Corporations paid dividends in
the first 11 months of 1931 and 675
paid extra or increased dividends.
Likewise in the hours of work fun
damental readjustments have as yet
made small progress. There is at
present only enough work on our
farms, factories, railroads and else
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W11CJ.C LVJ glYt JJ iavixxo <x yyvwiy X
all if everyone wants work is to have
a job. Industry cannot keep its wage
earner forces employed or maintain
their buying power unless the shorter
work week is adopted and the workers
allowed a larger share of the profits
they produce.
THOMPSON HEADS MACHINIST
HELPERS
Local No. 8 57 International As
sociation of Machinist Helpers at its
last regular meeting elected officers
for the ensuing year, the meeting was
well attended and much interest shown
by its members in the selection of
leaders for the coming year. The re
sult of the ballots placed the following
in office: president R. L. Thompson;
vice president, L. A. Alsbrooks; re
cording secretary, R. N. Clark; fin
ancial secretary, L. A. Charles; treas
urer, J. H. Fisher; chairman of the
shop committee, G. L. Seamon, and
for the one member to be placed on
the bo.ard of trustees, R. S. Wood,
Was chosen.
After all business was disposed ot
the special committee appointed to
work out the Christmas treat program
made its report in the form af a large
bags which were presented to all pre
sent as well as sending bags to all
tnose prevented attending on account
of working night shifts. These bag*
were found to contain the finest kinds
of fruits, candies and nuts and all
other ingredients generally recognized
as being a part of Christmas.
MASS MEETING
A mass meeting was called b
secretary of the Federated Shop Crafts
to meet at the Strand theatre, Monday
vening, December 21st. at 7:30 for
the purpose of hearing report from our
representative of the Chicago con
ferences between railway managements
and labor executives. This call includ
ed all members of the crafts connect
ed with railway shopmen and regardless
of whether they were now employed
or on furlough. At the time set for
the meeting there was a continuous
down pour of rain but a fair crowd
was present. The deliberations of this
meeting were kept behind a cloak of
secrecy and no statement whatever
was put out but it is generally con
ceded that the meeting was highly
important to the members of the shop
crafts.
RELIEF WORK
Among the crafts now employed in
addition to making the sacrifice of
Favor Leasing Of
Muscle Shoals To
Private Company
Washington — President Hoover’s
Muscle Shoals commission recently
recommended lease of the power pro
ject to private interest for 50 years.
President Hoover, in making the re
port public, said he would transmit
it to congress.
The report said operation of the
properties would be "enconomically
feasible and desirable,” and suggested
that congress enact legislation "em
powering the president or any such
agency as he may elect to negotiate
and to suoervise operations thereunder
for and on behalf of the United
States.”
"If enabling legislation is enacted
by congress,” the report added, "such
a contract will be readily negotiable
at a fair and reasonable rental, and
the benefits to agriculture to be de
rived therefrom would be immeasur
able.”
Eight tentative bids, the repiort
said, have been received, but none was
deemed satisfactory.
The Muscle Shoals plant should be
used primarily for lars?e scale produc
tion of commercial fertilizer or fertili
zer ingredients of greater concentra
tion than those now generally sold
to the farmers, the report said. Col
lateral uses suggested are "cooperative
scientific research and experimenta
tion for the betterment of agricul
ture,” and manufacture of chemicals
other than fertilizer.
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"can best be obtained by private opera
tion,” the commission believes.
The terms of tl\e proposed lease
specified:
1. —That "all power for the man
ufacture of fertilizer and chemicals
should be guaranteed and allocated
for such purposes.”
2. —Expenditure for research of not
more than 2 5 per cent of power rental
and proceeds from sale or lease of
surplus property.
3. —Creation from the rest of the
proceeds of "a revolving fund for the
operation and financing of the pur
chase and storage of fertilizer and
fertilizer material.”
4. —Use of any surplus funds for
amortization of the cost of the Cove
Creek dam, w'.hose construction is
recommended.
5. —Recognition of right of recap
ture of the dams involved at termina
tion of the lease, "by the states of
Tennessee and Alabama preferably.”
INDIANS ARE FOUND
WHO NEVER SMILE
Hidden away in the hittrland of
British Guinea is the most primitive
race in the world—living in exactly
the same way as their ancestors did
a thousand years ago. They are the
Arawaks, the Macusi, and the Carib
aboriginal Indians, who were cut off
from the world when an oceanic cata
clysm widened the gap between the
mainland and the West Indian is
lands.
Only a thousand of them now re
remain, but they have the same cus
toms, habits, and superstitions of
their forefathers back almost to the
beginning of time. They drink a bev
erage made from the cassava root,
which is 10 times stronger than proof
spirit. One pint of it will keep a man
drunk fgr a fortnight, because the
drinking of water renews the alcohol
ic action.
Here are some queer supersititions
and customs that I discovered among
the aboriginals:
If the moon shines on a sleeping
person he will shortly die.
To avoid death he muse catch a
macaw (a large parrot), skin it, and
burn the feathers on a stone alter be
fore his god.
When the wife gives birth to a
child, the husband must lie in his
hammock till the rising of the full
moon. This will ward off evil spirits
from the child.
If the first child is a boy it is a
good omen, and there follows a cas
sav I orev.
It it is a girl the god is displeased,
and must be propitiated with offer
ings of cassava,., fish, and the heart
of a puma.
The puma must be killed single
handed.
Marriage is by selection. Where
there are dual suitors, physical com
bat decides the issue. There is no
divorce. The tribal marriage is life
long.
As soon as a child can walk he is
taught to use the bow and arrow. A
child five years old can kill a parrot
at 30 yards. At 10 he will hit a run
ning deer at 50 yards. I have seen
an Arawak brave pin a camoodle
snake to a tree, 40 yards away, the
losing one day per week, strong effort
is being made to provide those less
fortunate with funds to insure not on
ly the necessities of life but make it
possible for them to secure some of
the things that will keep their children
from being disappointed on Christmas
morning. This action is certainly to be
commended and is typical of real un
ionism.
+ Do You Know? +
Photograph, Canadian National Railways
TflHAT these strange looking boats are the type that ply the Great
f£ Lakes In the grain trade? They are known as “whale backs” >
because of their length and the way In which they lie low In the
water.OPractlcally all the grain carried from the head of the lakes to
the big eastern elevators is transported in this type of .vessel./ ' j
arrow passing right through the
head.
The aboriginals will not go near
running water at night. Evil spirits
frequent the rivers and waterfalls,
and are unleashed when the sun goes
down. The most evil spirit of all is
called "Yumbo.” If a baby dies Yum
bo took him. If wild animals attack
the fishermen, Yumbo has got inside
them. If there is no rain, Yumbo is
responsible.
The Kaiteur waterfalls lie within
easy distance of the reservation. It
is one of the wonders of the world.
It has a sheer drop of 817 feet, and
the spray rises out of the Potaro pool
to a height of 300 feet. From a dis
tance of a mile the fall looks like a
huge lace curtain drooping over the
face of the rock. The Kaiteur fall is
sacred to the aboriginal. It is the
god of gods, and is referred to only
in an indirect way, such as "that
one,” or "the tumbling river.”
In the rainy season, when the Po
trap river is swollen with mountain
torrents, the aboriginals move like
stricken people. They say that some
day "that one” will burst the banks
and swallow them up.
They cannot understand firearms,
and look on them as the nearest ap
proach to an aboriginal joke it is pos
sible to achieve.
I never saw one smile. I never saw
one cry, not even the babies. Their
features are flat and without expres
sion. They are barren of emotion, and
apparently are impervious to pain.
They know consciousness and uncon
sciousness, but appear to feel no phy
sical sense of sickness. If they are sick
they carry on until they are well, or
fall unconscious. Death means noth
inf to them. There is no hereafter.
Says Farm Machinery
Priced At Low Level
The farmer’s dollar is buying more
in the way of materials and labor
when he purchases a new farm machine
than anything else he uses at his per
iod, suggests David S. Weaver, agri
cultural engineer at Stare College.
Mr. Weaver has made a comparison
of prices of machinery with other
articles used on the farm and finds
them priced at a lower level. Such
equipment as corn planters, cultiva
tors, harrows, sulky plows, rakes and
wagons are selling at a much lower
price level than washing machines,
ranges, milk cans, lawn mowers and
the like.'
"It would be desirable if prices for
farm machinery and other commodi
ties could be maintained at a price
level fixed acording to the price paid
for farm products but this is impossi
ble,” says Mr. Weaver. "True it is
that farm products prices have some
effect on the wages paid to manufac
ture farm machinery but such effects
are always slow. Wholesale prices are
slow in affecting retail prices and re
tail prices are slow in affecting wages.”
Mr. Weaver finds that less than
five cents of every dollar received for
farm products was spent for new
farm equipment during the years be
tween 1924 and 1930. Included in
this five cents were almost every kind
of power farming and field equipment.
Say, "I Saw It in The WatchmanThank You!
Order Your Christmas Cards Now!
WE have a large selection for
you to choose from.your
name engraved or printed in good
style.
Place Your Order Now.
- *
Rowan Printing Co.
126 N. Main St., Salisbury, N. C. - Phone 532
COMPULSORY BIRTH
CONTROL IS URGED
Birmingham, Eng.—Two of Brit
ain’s foremost clerics—Dr. Barnes,
bishop of Birmingham, and Dean ingi
—have added their support to Mr.
Justice McCardie’s plea for the rat
ional control of births and for the
sterilization of the unfit.
"I am forced to conclude that this
country is over-populated and that
its girthrate must be diminished,”
said Dr. Barnes, at the opening of the
Birmingham Diocesan conference.
"We need a stringently enforced
limitation among bad stocks such as
those which carry the taint of feeble
mindedness.
"The country cannot indefinitely
carry the burden of these tainted
stocks, with their disastrous fecund
ity.
"And we as clergy are not doing
our duty if we fail to insist that 10
per cent of the community carries
feeble-mindedness, open or hidden,
and with it, owing to selective mat
ing, a group of dangerously anti
social qualities.
"I heartily support the judge’s (Mr.
Justice McCardie) plea that mental
defectives should be sterilized.
is surely right to prevent the birth
of children who will, or may, be
cursed by feeble-mindedness.”
Dean Inge put forward his case
during a broadcast contribution to the
B. B. C. series on "What I would Do
With the World.”
Under his rule, he said, "a nation
which took no steps to check the
multiplication of its worst stocks
would be considered an offender
against the progress of humanity, and
pressure might be brought #to bear
upon that nation.
"I should encourage eugenic propa
ganda and research into the laws of
heredity.”
QUITE DIFFERENT
Smile: "Daddy is so pleased to hear
you are a poet.”
Don: "Fine! He likes poetry then?
Smile: "Not at all. But the last boy
friend of mine he tried to throw out
was an amateur boxer.”
At the same time 12 1-2 cents of the
farm dollar was spent for labor; eight
cents for taxes; 7 1-2 cents for in
terest on indebetedness; 15 to 20 cents
for automobiles; 20 cents for food;
15 cents for clothes and 10 cents for
fertilizers.
Gambling?
! YOU are gambling
if you keep your
j valuables in your
home without ade
| quate protection
j from fire and theft.
Why take this
| chance when you j
| can buy a Meilink j
j Fireproof Chest for
$|0°o
II II
SEE THEM AT
ROWAN PRINTING CO.
126 N. MAIN ST.
PHONE 532
SALISBURY, NORTH CAROLINA
«9
__
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Open Evenings Until Christmas
“HIS” LIST
Bring His List To Us, We Will Fill It
USEFUL GIFTS FOR MEN
SILK LOUNGING ROBES
$5.95 to $12.50
HOUSE SLIPPERS
$1.00 to $3.50
BATH ROBES
$3.95 to $7.50
SOX, SILK OR WOOL
25c to $1.00
PAJAMAS
95c to $3.95
SWEATERS
$2.45 to $4.95
BELTS AND BUCKLES
$1.00 to $3.00
MUFFLERS
95c to $3.50
GLOVES
95c to $5.00
SHIRTS
95c to $2.50
KNICKERS
$2.45 to $4.95
TOILET SETS
$3.50 to $8.50
\ TOPCOATS
$7.50 to $22.50 -
2 PANTS SUITS
$9.35 to $26.25
BOYS’ GIFTS ARE HERE TOO
rAJAMAb
95c
SHIRTS
75c to 95c
SOX—GOLR
25c to 50c
SWEATERS
^ $1.45 to $2.95
SJttfcfcJ" LIINtJJ LUAli
$2.95 to $3.95
KNICKERS
95c to.$2.45
SUITS—2 PR. PANTS
$3.35 to $9.35
OVERCOATS
$2.95 to $7.50
Many other Gifts for Men and Boys, not listed
here
TREXLER BROS. & YOST
LEADING CLOTHIERS