Carolina Watchman
Published Every Friday
Morning At
SALISBURY, NORTH CAROLINA
E. W. G. Huffman,_Editor
SUBSCRIPTION* RATES
Payable In Advance
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Entered as second-class mail
matter at the postoffice at Sal
isbury, N. C., under the act of
March 3, 1879.
The influence of weekly news
papers on public opinion exceeds
that of all other publications in
the country.—Arthur Brisbane.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 193 3
RENOVISE THE UNITED
STATES
Eighty-five per cent of Ameri
cans are inadequately housed.
Seventy-five per cent live in hand
me-down quarters bare of modern
comforts and conveniences. Where
our annual building expenditure
in 1928 was $6,500,000,000, it
was only two hillion last year.
These facts appear in an editorial
in the St. Clairsville, Ohio, Chron
icle. And, as the editorial further
nointr nut tKprp IfP CTV1 ltlH HlHlCl
I- — 7
tions that a major building revival
is on its way. Every American
desires better living conditions;
millions of Americans have been
prevented from achieving them the
past few years either because of
financial stress or fear of the fu
ture. That fear is now being al
layed—recovery has started, and it
can be seen in all parts of the
country. Men are going back to
work, factory chimneys are smok
ing—and and dollars are finding
their way into pockets from where
they will go to buy necessities of
life. A good part of those dollars
•will either be used to build new
homes, or rebuild and modernize
old ones.
It’s time for a national cam
paign to "Renovise the United
States.” That would speed recov
ery' arKpbe the most potent in-'
fluence that could be brought to
play in stabilizing price levels and
providing employment.
Remember that employment and
investments are better and cheaper
than charity. Remember, too,
that in a few months, when the
building boom gets underway,
prices are going up and are going
to stay up. Get in on the "build
ing bargains” while they are still
being offered.
THE MOTORISTS WHO TAKES
CHANCES
You see them on streets and
highways every day—motorists
who takes chances.
You see them turning corners at
high speeds. Or stealing another
car’s right of way. Or passing
on hills and curves. Or driving on
the wrong side of the road. Or
cuttng in and out of thiclf'fxaflic.
Or coming roaring into intersec
tions and road junctions, without
looking to either side. Or operat
ing at speeds which are obviously
higher than are safe under driving
conditions of the moment. And,
every once in a while, you see such
a motorists cause an accident. Per
haps there is little damage done.
Or perhaps a life is lost and valu
able property is needlessly destroy
ed.
The reckless motorists comprises
ten per cent or less of the driving
population. But he causes ninety
per cent of the accidents. If the
reckless drivers simply injured
each other it ’wouldn’t be particul
arly important to the rest of uc.
But they seldom do that—they
main and kill the careful, the com
petent, the prudent. And you
never know who’s going to be
next.
This year about thirty thousand
people are going to be killed be
cause someone was careless, reck
less, discourteous. Not one of «a
thousand of those deaths is really
due to an unavoidable accident—
an occurance which is almost as
* rare as the dodo. They can #11 be
prevented. And they will bi
when there is a concerted public
drive against those who maki
places of carnage out of public
highways.
FOR BETTER FICTION
Joining the American Fictior
Guild in its drive for better litera
cure, Black Mask, pioneer of th<
"different” kind of detective fic
don, has just become an activi
member of the Guild. This maga
zine has a unique and enviable re
cord of achievement. It has dis
covered names which now rani
high among the writers of today.
"The Maltese Falcon,” which as
sured the fame of Dashiell Ham
mett, first appeared in Black Mask
In Black Mask, Frederick L. Nebel
one of the foremost of the youngei
writers, began building his reputa
tion. Raoul Whitefield’s stories ir
the magazine led him rapidly intc
motion pictures. H. Bedford-Jone:
best known of popular fictior
writers, is a frequent contributor
Erie Stanley Gardner gave "Ed
Jenkins” to detective fiction, and
his character bids fair to take a
place among the most famous of
fictional criminologists. Carroll
John Daly has for years intrigued
readers of stirring fiction with hh
yarns of "Race Williams,” the
detective who hides his real human
feelings behind a mask of hard
ness. Theodore A. Tinsley is in
troducing a new character who will
surely take his place among the
best in current literature—"Jerry
Tracy.”
And, perhaps best of all, Black
Mask is one magazine which ex
tends a helping, understanding
hand to all young writers who are
sincerely anxious to develop their
talents along "different” lines.
THE RETURN OF SILVER
Silver: 3 8-1/4 cents per ounce.
That quotation probably doesn’t
explain much to you. But it
means that the poor man’s gold
recently touched its highest level
since May, 1930.
During—threeJong years of de?
pression silver has been on the bar
gain counter—it’s been offered at
fire-sale prices. And that state
ment, too, explains * little until
cause and effect are related, until
it is expressed in the terms of pur
chasing power, trade among na
tions, jobs. The collapse of silver
was the principal economic cause
of the decline in world trade—1
decline which finally became a
rout. More than half the world’s
people saw their purchasing power
drop to less than half of former
levels, and factories all over the
world, here and in England and
Germany and elsewhere, closed be
cause cheap silver had taken their
markets from them.
Silver is coming back. And
that means that prosperity is com
ing back in a dozen states and in a
score of great industries. It means
that men are going to work, and
| that great markets are again going
to open up.
! ----
I AND THEY THOUGHT TAXES
I WERE; HIGH 25 YEARS AGC
| * A tax story in two chapters.
I Chapter 1 — San Francisct
Chronicle in its "25 Years Ag<
Today’’ column: "The Board oi
Supervisors today recommended :
tax rate of $1.48, which, with thi
estimated state rate of 47 cents
will make the total rate for thi
lyear $1.95.”
j Chapter 2—In the same editioi
'of the Chronicle: "The Board o:
Supervisors is enforcing the strict
est economy in its . budget thi
year (1933). Nevertheless thi
tax rate will be $3.75.”
San Francisco isn?t in a class bi
itself. ,Virtually every community
has had the same experience—som
a great deal worse. If governmen
keeps loading up with new propo
sitions which continually: requin
more tax funds, how will industry
and the private citizen pay the bil
ten years henfce? Think this ovei
when you vote for scheriies that re
quire the raising of public fund
through taxation or otherwise.
IN THE first place, we’ll
a * a
STATE THAT this did not
a a a
HAPPEN HERE, but that
a a a
IT’S LIKELY to happen
a a a
IF SOME of our folks
a a a
. DON’T CHANGE some of
a a a
THEIR HABITS. The coroner
a a a
IN A certain nearby
a a a
TOWN WAS questioning
4 4 4
A WIDOW. "What were your
4 4 4
HUSBAND’S LAST words,
4 4 4
MADAM?” HE asked. And
a a a
!SHE TOLD him, "He just
4 4 4
SAID 'I don’t see how
a a a
THEY MAKE much profit
a * •
ON THIS stuff at a
a a a
DOLLAR AND a
I QUARTER A quart’.”
\
I THANK YOU. * '
| PICAYUNES
NATIVE WIT
Those of you who think the
clinging type of girl has passed
should keep your eyes peeled for
the next motorcycle that pasess
carrying double.
—The Greensboro Neus
DIR-TY DIG
We remember ’way back w'hen
we were told thpt Latin would
help us.
—George G. Myrover in The Fay
etteville Observer.
SLOGAN
You can’t keep up with the
TIMES unless you subscribe.
—The Bclhayen Times
SHINE, MISTER ?
A very benign old gentleman
was Washington Duke, the late I
B.’s father, judging from his bron
ze replica in the grounds of the
older portion of the university. We
wonder, however, if he wouldn’t
feel just a little ill at ease if he
i knew how badly his shoes need
i shining.
i—Upton G. Wilson in The Rciils
ville Review.
NOT OUR WAY
General Balbo brought his Italian
air armada to America, losing two
men and one plane out of the 2 5
in the group, but on his way back
! he lost another man in taking off
| from the Azores. The General re
| vealed that the Italians are of en
tirely different temperament from
the Americans, because for almost
two weeks he held his air fleet in
j Newfoundland waiting for the
| rigiiL Kinu ui weatner. naa it
been left to an American he would
have given orders to start after he
had waited for not more than a
couple of days.
—The Stanly News & Press
I -
' STUDYING UP
; One of Concord’s most recent
divorcees was discovered reading
: the other day a book entitled:
I "Fishing for Men in Brazil.” The
pasture on the other side of the
fence always looks greener.
—Radio in The Concord Tribune.
L| "
: DIFFERENT DAYS, DIFFER
\ ENT TROUBLES
The country has stopped worry
ing about hitch-hiking and is now
troubled about price-hiking.
—The Cleveland Star.
’ DARWINIAN STYLE NOTE
| It’s a little hard1 for Milady tc
get away from her ancestors, Black
.monkey fur is the rage for late
■ ! summer and early fall.
,j —The Greenville, S. C., News
■ PROOF OF THE \PUDDPN’
[< Ants are the hardiest of insects
• a naturalist tells us. Obviously, 01
| they couldn’t survive those picnic
lunches.
’—Olin Miller in The Atlanta Jour
Iml.
NOT WE, NEIGHBOR!
Here’s Texas with a statewide ad
valorem tax of 77 cents on land
Who wants to move to Texas?
—The Elizabeth City Advance
LONGER AT IT
I asked the question why sc>
many people are fat in Union coun
ty, and Bob Belk, the contractor,
says the depression. Less to eat anc
chewed right and digested, is the
cause.
—T. B. Laney in The Monroe
Journal.
ORIGINAL D. A. R.
Miss Green, daughter of Nath
aniel Green, delivered1 an oration
on the 4th inst., before the ladies
of Coray Academy, Augusta,
Maine.
—100-year-old column, The Char
'eston News Sc Courier.
CAME THE WHISTLE
Strolling down Broad street Fri
day afternoon was a man with one
side of his face shaved and the
other side sporting a luxuriant
growth of whiskers. He said the
barber ended his 40-hour week
half through his shave and asked
him to return Monday for the
other half of the operation.
—Rader Win get in The Augusta
Chronicle.
VIGNETTE
Stout woman giving a small girl
a nickel in King street yesterday
after she had' bumped into the
child, knocking an ice cream cone
out of her hand.
—The Charleston News & Courier
THANKSGIVING
It’s at this season of the year that
the country cousin begins to feel
thankful that the city vacation
season will soon be over with.
- —The Greenville, S. C., News.
OSCULATORY NOTE
The only thing we do not envy
General Balbo is the prospect he
faces of getting all those enthusias
tic Latin he-kisses when he reaches
home.
—The Raleigh Times.
City Tax Rate
Cut 7 Cents
The 1933-1934 tax rate for the
city of Salisbury, will be $1.28.
This figure fixed at the last
meeting of the city council and
represents a reduction of seven
cents.
The levy passed by a 3-2 vote.
Mayor Davis, Councilmen Holmes
and Raney verted for the levy while
Councilmen Hedrick a,nd McCan
less voted against it on the grounds
the levy was too high.
The levy is divided as follows.
General fund - — 5
Debt service ..^
Schools ...
Total __----- S*-28
Says Sales Tax
Benefits Farmers
Adoption of the general sales tax
has been fortunate for North Caro
lina’s farm population.
"The general objection to the
general sales tax is that a greater
proportion of the income of the
poorer classes must be absorbed in
the tax than is true for the more
wealthy class, even though the
wealthy class buys more as indi
viduals,’ said Joe E. Hiill, North
Carolina State college assistant
in farm management research.
I "However, this objection is taken
'care of in the exemption of the
basic food commodities as these ar
j tides compose the greater bulk of
'purchases made by the poorer clases
and today the agricultural popula
tion might be so classed,” he as
serted.
i Basic commodities exempted are,
wheat flour, corn meal, fresh
meat, lard, sorghum molasses, salt
i sugar and coffee. The sales tax
does not apply to the sale of pro
jducts from farms, forests, or mines
'when such sales are made by those
who helped in the production of
i such products in their original
'state of conditioning their prepara
tion for sale, but the tax does apply
to the resale of such products.
Commercial fertilizer is also ex
empt—an inspection tax is already
paid.
| 'The expense of a general sales
'tax in this state, agriculturally, is
much less than if the ad valorem
tax had been increased,” Hull said.
"North Carolina’s population is
about 70 per cent rural, therefore
,our general sales tax favors the ag
ricultural class not only as farm
ers, but as a whole. This enact
I ment was sponsored as a means of
Thousands Jam Chicago’s World’s Fair Grounds
I**" ...
Approximately a quarter of a milli on persons crowded the exposition grounds of A Century of Progress
—The Chicago’s 1933 World’s Fair. The photo above shows a cro wded section of the Midway.
There are eight-two miles of free exhibits to be seen.
providing more revenue for the
public schools, and with the large
percentage of rural population, it is
readily seen that the agricultural
children will receive greatest bene
fit from the tax.”
He said the general sales tax is
a fair tax, being more burdensome
on those who can better afford to
bear it, as well as being especially
favorable to the one class of peo
ple most in need of its benefits—
the farmer.
$750,000 Paid
For New Bank
%
Capital Structure of Guaranty
Bank. Is Fully Subscribed |
With its capital structure of
$750,000 fully subscribed and paid
I
in, the Guaranty bank on Thurs
day completed' its organization, thej
major development having been the'
Reconstruction Finance corpora-j
tion’s payment of $300,000 for
preferred stock. The common
stock of $300,000 and the surplus
of $130,000 previously had been
paid by the liquidating agent of
the North Carolina Bank and Trust I
company.
Official announcement that)
North Carolina Bank and Trust1
company has completed the organi
zation of the Guaranty bank, with
its principal office in Greensboro i
was made by Gurney P. Hood, state l
commissioner of banks. I ’
In his statement Hood mentions )
that he has "suggested to the
Guaranty bank that it immediately
organize a national bank” and he J
will seek judicial approval of such 1
a course. i
SCREEN STAR SUED
——
New York.—Mary Pickford was
served at her hotel with a summons
in a suit seeking $250,000 damages
for breach of contract. No declara
tion accompanied the suit, filed by
Edward Hemmer, and the nature
of the alleged breach was not dis
closed.
WINERIES PROPOSED
Little, Rock, Ark.—A proposal
:o put state agricultural college in
:he wine business was placed before
he state senate in a bill. The
neasure would authorize agricul
ural colleges to establish wineries
vhich would not be subject to any
ax.
It isn’t the size of your hat that
treasures brains. It’s the size of
our interest in other people’s af
airs.
}
r Rural Highways to Benefit From
Public Roads Bureau Research
THE long-held aim of "getting
the farmer out of the mud”
promises to be brought materially
closer to realization through the
application of a very considerable
part of the $400,000,000 federal
road fund to the secondary high
way system. The United States
Bureau of Public Roads will have
heavy responsibilities in the expen
diture of the fund, and it is for
tunate that research conducted by
the Bureau provides the basis for
the construction and improvement
of low-cost reads that will both get
and keep the farmer out of the
mud without imposing an unjust
ifiable tax burden for maintenance.
The Bureau’s research, conduc
ted in its test laboratory at Arling
ton, Virginia, across the Potomac
from Washington, has covered
characteristics of the ground be
neath the surface which are im
portant to the design, construction
and maintenance of highways. It
has also covered the problems of
highway surfaces, with a view to
the use of chemical and physical
admixtures to' provide low-cost
roads with surfaces that will stand
up under traffic and can be main
tained at low cost.
Low-Cost Highway Surfaces
The surface condition of clay,
sand-clay and gravel roads depends
largely upon the degree of cohesion
possessed by the clay or other ma
terial that acts as the binder or
road “glue.” This in turn largely
depends upon the presence of suffi
cient' moisture, for it is the mois
ture films between the particles
and not the particles themselves
that provide the “glue.” The value
of chemical admixtures in main
taining cohesion has been shown
by the use of calcium chloride, a
white, flaky substance which slows
down evaporation and prevents the
drying out of the moisture without
which the surface tends to disin
tegrate.
! Spread upon the surface, the first
. rainfall carries it down to the sub
surface soil. With the re-appear
ance of the sun, evaporation of the
! surface moisture begins but is re
placed by the rising of the calcium
chloride solution. Evaporation con
tinues only up to the point at
! which, due to the calcium chloride,
the solution will no longer evap
orate. At the next rainfall the
tame process takes place with the
1 result that cohesion is steadily
maintained.
Sub-Surface Soils Study
The foundation of a road is as
important as the foundation of a
building. In the case of roads of
ill kinds this foundation is pro
vided by the sub-surface soils. The
Bureau of Public Roads’ program
of sub-surface research has in
cluded all of those soil constituents
which are of importance in deter
mining the reactions of widely
different soils under varying con
ditions of load, moisture and tem
1 perature. This has involved tests
'--- -I
The compression test, during which soil
samples are subjected to pressures equiva
lent to those Imposed by a heavily loaded
truck.
Taking an hydrometer
reading of a soil sample
dispersed in distilled
water. One of the steps
necessary to determine
the proportions of .sand,
silt, clay and other sub
stances.
without losing stability
to a harmful degree. This
liquid limit Varies great
ly with different soils
and is of great impor
tance in determining the
extent to which capillary
and other moisture will
lessen their stability.
While all soils require a
certain amount of mois
ture for cohesion, too
much moisture will have
the same effect upon
them as will too much
moisture upon a handful
of damp sand.
A compression, test, in
which a sample of the
soil is subjected to loads
comparable to those a
oi sou samples irom an parts or
the United States.
One of the fundamental tests is
an analysis to discover the propor
tions of sand, silt, clay, and other
substances which the soil contains..
This involves a lengthy laboratory
procedure, including hydrometer
readings of a soil sample dispersed
in distilled water. The readings
are taken over a period of 24
hours. At the conclusion of the
analysis it is possible to determine,
by employing complex mathematical
formulae, not only the proportions
of all the different soil substances,
but the actual size of their par
ticles.
The "Liquid Limit” Tezt
The "liquid limit” test deter
mines the maximum amount of
moisture which the soil can hold
neaviiy loaded truck would impose,
determines ‘the resistance to pres
sure from above; the resistance to
lateral flow, or spreading out, under
such pressure; and the expansion
or tendency to take up water after
being compressed. *
The knowledge which these and
other tests make available, enables
the highway engineer to know in
advance how the soils which he
must work with will react under
varying conditions of moisture,
pressure and climatic changes. If
the soils are deficient in certain
qualities, they indicate what ma
terials should be added, and in
what proportions. They tend to
give the highway engineer the
same degree of'exact knowledge
about his soils, «as the structr
engineer possesses conce*
steel and stone.