North Carolina Newspapers

ESTABLISHED SEPTEMBER 19,1878 BANK AT BENNETT LOOTED BY TRIO Forced Cashier Purvis to Open Safe; Drove Officers Into Vault Under Threats A telephone message shortly a i&t* noon Saturday to the effect that"' It trio of bandits had robhed the Peo ple’s Bank and Trust Company at Bennett, in the south-western cor ner of the eouipty, put Sheriff Blair and his deputies on the alert. But what to do was the question, for the men had gone off in a fast car and like the geese in the old play of„ “William Tremble toe” might have flown east, west, north or south. The wires were used to notify offi cers in all directions and the men placed themselves at strategical points along as many of the high ways as they could cover, while, pre sumably officers from every town in the section were on the alert; but night came without any capture, save the arrest of two men at Asheboro who easily proved themselves inno cent of the crime. The story of the robbery as given by a dispatch from Bennett to state papers follows: “BENNETT, Jan. 7.—Two em ployes and a customer of the Peoples Bank and Trust company, of Ben nett, were locked in the vault of the bank here today while the funds of the institution were carried off by three robbers. Between $3,500 and $4,000 were secured by the rob bers and the bank was practically depleted of ready cash. While the men remained locked in the vault and before the alarm could be given the robbers got safely away. Two men were arrested at Asheboro later in the afternoon, but were declared "by officials of the bank not to be the men who committed the robbery. The robbers chose the noon, or dinner hour, for the hold-up and en tered the bank when only one per son, Keller Andrews, assistant cash ier, was in it. Two men went in, while a third remained in a car, par ked nearby. One of the men who entered the bank is believed to be a Negro. Some of those who saw him, however, think that he was a white man disguised as a Negro. The Ne gro, or supposed negro, asked for change for a ten dollar bill. While Andrews was counting out the change the white man moved around to the entrance to the enclosure and drew his gun. The Negro also covered Andrews with his and the two of them' shoved" Turn into the vault and locked the door. Before they could get the money and get out J. A. Purvis, the cashier, came in. He was ordered to open the vault. He had _some difficulty in doinp- so and was threatened with death if he failed. He finally got it open, Eu gene Brady, a customer, coming in in the meantime. Brady also was lined up with Purvis and was march ed into the vault and all three men were locked up while the bandits lei surely finished ransacking the insti tution and as leisurely entered their car and drove away. While the robbery was going on inside the institution the third man of the party talked unconcernedly with any who chose to stop and pass the time of day. He told those who inquired that he was from Florida, was merely passing through and had stopped to rest for a few minutes. The next man to enter the bank was Will Brady. He couldn’t find anybody at first and soon sensed that something was wrong. Then he heard the frantic cries of the imprisoned men, confined in a death chamber unless relief should come quickly. He ran out and spread the alarm and the village afid visitors flocked to the place. Arthur Andrews, of Bonlee, listened closely and got the combination from Purvis and unlocked the door and the men were liberated after being im prisoned for about 35 or forty min utes. “Sheriff Blair, of Chatham coun ty, was called to the scene and spread a net all over the surrounding sec tion and wired news of the robbery and description of the men to more 'distant cities. The net failed to catch the men, however. Two men, traveling in a Chrysler sedan, the same kind of car as occupied at Ashe the robbers, were arreated at Ashe boro and they are still being held. They give their names as Maness and Wilson. Purvis and Andrews both went to Asheboro to identify the men. They are positive that “they are not the men who roblyjd the bank. They are being held be cause they had whiskey in the car when arrested. There have been reports that the men had been seen at other places and these are being investigated but up to midnight to- Tnght none of them had proven re liable.” SUSPECTS ARRESTED Three men are said to have been Rested at Charlotte on suspicion of being the robbres who looted the Bennett bank Saturday. Sheriff Blair and Deputy Desern left Tues day for Charlotte to investigate and probably bring the men back for identification. THREE TURKEYS ONE SHOT Mr. Casper Harris killed three wild turkeys the other day at one shot. His rich cousin from New York had been down here a week hunting, at the cost of .00, and didn’t get a single turkey. The day after he left, Casper got the three *at one shot. Hunting is a gamble. me Chatham Record MR. K. W. THOMPSON IN SERIOUS CONDITION Mr. K. W. Thompson had to un dergo a serious operation at Watts hospital ten days ago. He had his appendix taken out last August, and trouble developed at the place where it was cut off,, resulting- in a seri ous condition to the neighboring bow els. - • : ■■' ' ' •• *" • His brother Mr. J. C. Thompson, who. left the cedar mill his brother’s hands several weeks ago and was working at a mill in South Carolina, came in just after his bro ther had been taken to He went on up to Durham Hflrd'stay ed with his brother steadily for a week. Down here last Friday morn ing, he reported the condition of the sick man as improved, and it is hoped that he will continue to im prove till fully recovered. Mr. J. C. will be here now. His wife at present is visiting home folk in Davidson county. Interesting Visitors Pastor Barclay Has Visit From Brother and Business Man Something like several years ago, one Sunday at the home of the edi tor's cousin, J. R. Peterspri, near Clinton, we found with our old friend David Millard, of Baltimore, a Mr. Barclay, a cartoonist on the j Baltimore papers, and recall his; amusing our two flapped, then chil- j dren, with off-hand drawings. Lat er, we found Rev. Jonas Barclay at Pittsboro as pastor of the Presbyter ian church, and though he had told us of a brother of his who is a vet eran newspaperman, we had not as- j sociated the visitor in Sampson with ! the same. But Sunday it came to I our ears that a friend was at the • home of Mr. Barclay and a visit dis- i covered the same two gentlemen, \ and revealed the fact that we had i seen the preacher’s brother, David, j since he had himself seen him., at , least before this visit. David, Millard and McKee Bar- j clay are two interesting men, the j one of backwoods Sampson descent j and the other from a Kentucky farm. Nevertheless, they are big men in Baltimore, where Millard is one of the leading druggists of the city and owner of a splendid farm in Maryland, specializing in Guern sey cattle, and where McKee Bar clay has long been associated with the city papers. Mr. Barclay has also served as Washington corres pondent of the daily press, accom panied ‘-Wilson on his pre-conven tion tour of the WestyAn 1912, was an intimate of Wilson during the latter’s administration, and other wise concerned in public affairs, but for the greater part of the time a producer of political cartoons for the two Baltimore dailies. It had been 13 ytears since the brothers Barclay had seen each other, and they had much to talk of. while David Millard and the writer could have talked many hours of as sociations in Sampson and at Wake Forest, where he was a student a bit before our day, and where his brother, Junius, one of the biggest Baptist preachers in the south, be fore his death, was a classmate of ye editor, and we believe we could write a string of interesting remi niscences recalled by contact again with the off-shoot of the Vanns, of Sampson county, and by the way, a cousin of the Vanns of Mt. Vernon Springs; but we refrain. The two gentlemen were making a double trip of it this time, coming here to visit the Barclays, and thence down into Sampson to visit the Pet erson family and other relatives of Mr. Millard, and to hunt a few days. MAN SAID “THANK YOU" AWARDED $5,000 PRIZE The importance of courtesy is em phasized by the following stoTy of the winning of a $5,000 prize in a business contest. It is well worth repeating: The head of one of the largest retail stores on the continent offered $5,000 to any one who would suggest the best method for improv ing his business system. British students of economics visited the store and were accorded every oppor tunity to study its methods. They investigated and wrote reprots. Ex perts in store management and effi ciency engineers, armed with charts and diagrams, were among those who sought the prize. They sent in vol uminous reports. As. a young man —a customer —was leaving the store, he saw a notice of the $5,000 con test. Apparently he had not been treated'just right by a sales person. He bought a postal and wrote: “Tell your clorks to say ‘Thank You.’ " He won the prize. • Those two words “Thank You," and their importance in business, according to the Rail way Review, have prompted the or ganization of the “American Thank You League," the object of which | is to promote the idea of courtesy. “One wonders how long the new born league will last,” comments the | publication; “but if it only survives long enough to put a little more kindness and greater dgeree of the 1 ‘thank-you* idea into life generally, ‘ it will have done something."—Ar kansas Democrat Retailer. Sam Rkper of Davidson county is the pig club champion of North Ca i rolina the year 1927. 7 Hog raising and dairying are be c coming established as two new farm 1- industries in North Carolina. Well j j feu hogs from North Carolina com -3 mand a premium on certain eastern ‘ markets. PITTSBORO, N. C., CHATHAM COUNTY, THURSDAY, JANUARY, 12, 1928 Siler City Plant Does Big Business And H. C. Parka, Former Cole ridge Bank Cashier, Large ly Responsible For It (Asheboro Courier) A business concern which has had' a phenomenal, growth is the Chatham Sash aiid Door Company, of Siler City. At a meeting of stockholders of the company held last week it de veloped that the company had done a SIOO,OOO business during 1927. Indications that the business will be materially increased in 1928. .. An additional 2,500 square feet of floor space has been provided for activi ties during the new year. The sec retary and treasurer of the company is H. C, Parks, who resigned as cash ier of the Bank of Coleridge in Oc tober 1925 to take the position. It is said that it is largely due to Parks’ management that the com pany has had such a wonderful growth during the past months. It was only after Mr. Parks took in charge that the company began to be a real factor in the business life of Chatham county and the capital stock began to increase in value. At a meeting of the stockholders of the company, held Friday after noon, the following officers were elected: President, J. Sam Dorsett, of Siler City; vice-president and sec retary, C. L.. Brower, of Siler City and Thomasville; treasurer and gen eral manager, H. C. Parks, of Siler City; board of directors, J. Sam Dorsett, C. L. Brower, H. C. Parks, D. H. Hart and R. A. Williams. C. G. Foushee, of Liberty, and R. H. Johnson, of Siler City, are also stockholders. * KIMBALTON NEWS Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence McManess of Bear Creek spent Sunday at Mr. and Mrs. A. V. Ferguson’s. Mrs. Ernest Harris has returned to Raleigh after spending a week with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Dorsett. Jessie Justice and family visited Mr. and Mrs. George Jones Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. Earnest Harris of Raleigh, and W. B. Dorsett motored to Charlotte last week. Mrs. Bud Perry churned four gal lons of whole milk and made three and one quarter pounds of butter. • The wheat and other small grain crons have been hurt by the severe cold weather of last week. Elmer Perry turned a fox loose last Frdiay afternoon and almost -all the hunters of this neighborhood and their dogs took part in the arce. Some of the hunters were out nearly all night. Bud Perry was out bird hunting Wednesday and ran into a crow’s nest. He killed six at once. He tied his dogs and waited quietly a while and got several more. He did this a few times and got quite a lot of crows all told. COURT NEXT WEEK Court for trial of criminal cases will begin Monday. Judge Nunn, of New * Bern will preside. There is a rather full docket. Pittsboro hopes to see many of the county’s good citizens in town during court week. Then is a fine time to renew your subscription to the Record. Please come prepared and tell your neigh bor to subscribe if he isn’t getting the county paper. mu v DcFrank Crane Says Lats, Ccttrrtfhto 4M The Columbia Basin President Coolidge, in an address the other day, alluded to the effort of the Government to create new ter ritory. This is the true method of con quest. A lot better than going to war an<f subjecting another State is to tur n water to a desert and make a new State. Mr. Coolidge said, “A waterway system for tjie Mississippi Valley and its tributaries with one arm reach ing to the Gulf and another to the Atlantic is only a question of time. The Colorado River is pressing, the Columbia Basin is not' far distant." To many of my readers this phrase the Columbia Basin, is a sort of also ran. I confess until recently it was to me. But I am writing this in Spokane, Washington, just a few miles from this basin and right here it is sub ject of supreme interest. As far as that is concerned, it is of consider able interest to the whole country and not merely a local affair. The Panama Canal fired the ima gination of the world. Huge recla mation projects at various times have interested us and applied for aid to the general Government. But this Columbia Basin project will be about the biggest thing we have ever undertaken and are ever liable to underatke. It means a bringing into cultiva tion or a transforming from desert to thrifty farm lands about two mil lion acres. This can be done by merely utiliz ing dead waters which now run to waste. Fortunately these watera are Washington Letter . Jackson Day Celebration The Event of The Week in Capital City WASHINGTON, —Five thousand dollars’ worth of plain and fancy vci tuals; a rollicking orchestra chat sprayed the welkin with snappy’' strains; a full thousand; stiff white' shirt-fronts, and brilliant splashes of ■ color in many an evening gown; a rhdio hook-up spanning the nation’s mountains, valleys and lonely prai- ■ ries, unlimited oratory and no booze ! at all—and there, readers, you see ■■ the Democratic party’s big Jackson 1 Day celebration in Washington on | Thursday night, of this week/;. - They all promised to come except the Man of the Hour—Al Smith. He said he wouldn’t and he stood on his i word despite a world of telling, coax- j ing and begging. And he was down i to the most talked-of man at the mftetiiig, for, as the party clans gath ered and the big chiefs held pow-wow it looked more and more as if A1 Smith would lead Democracy's hosts to victory or defeat in the red-hot political campaign of 1928 now be ginning to sizzle and sputter under the urge of party passions. : The old warhorses of the Demo cratic party say they scent victory this year from the field afar and are champing at the bit, eager for the fray. Some of the stout-hearted are whooping it up for Governor Al and the sidewalks of New York, but soine j of the old time leaders are heavy at ] heart. “It’s a walk-over with Al Smith,” proclaim his boosters; “Can we win with a Roman Catholic and a wet?” ask the doubters. So the mel low noces of the evening’s music seems for all their gay barvado, to dip at times to strains of sadness. For Smith it seems more likely to be now than at any time since the star of this former New York new sie began to rise. These Democrats who like him love him; those who fear disaster under his ladership have groped vainly thus far for a name upon which they could center their combined strength in opposition to his candidacy. The one group fears defeat next Nov.; the other says that Smith will sweep all before him. There is other Democratic busi ness on hand in Washington this week, too, in the meeting Thursday I morning of the National Committee, j Last month the Republicans met! here and after much labor picked ! Kansas City as their meeting place ! June 12 for the nominating conven-1 ‘tion. This week’s Democratic coin-J mittee meeting was for the same purpose. Miami and San Francisco I are fighting a friendly battle for the I honor with Cleveland, Detroit and other cities also in the lists. It was expected that June 26 would be nam ed as the date. - Washington’s big Union Statipn,? where all convention delegates leave for home when their work is done, is the leaving place this week not only for the Democratic hosts, but . fpr" President Coolidge’ who was to- flit southward in a special train on Jan uary 13, the day after the big din ner of*his political foes. The, Presi dent’s destination was the enticing city of Havana, now gay with the flush of a mid-winter's season in the tropics. The Pan-American Confer ence called the President away from the capital and ■ its arctic chill for six days. The change in climate will be sudden and violent and the White House physicians are on their toes at a higher level than the irrigated,, land, so all that is necessary is the motive power of gravitation. It would mean, however, building some dams, making tunnels and con structing huge concrete lined canals and the project is so immense that nobody could take it up hut the gen eral government. We hear a lot about the Colorado River and the Boulder Dam, but rea lly this thing is bigger. This country once was settled dur ing what they call a wet cycle and 25,000 farmers lived in it. But then came the drouth and they all had to leave, for they could not raise crops on 7-inch rainfalls durine the year. Now the land is sand and sage brush. The soil is wonderfully fertile, as it is probably the bottom of an old lake, and all it needs is water. With water they can raise two crops of po tatoes a year and the finest potatoes in the world. They would have a climate even superior to Yakima ,for the raising of apples, and corn, and other midwest products could be grown in abundance. The men who are pushing this thing are public-spirited citizens, for they will probably all be dead be fore the scheme could be brought to completion, as it will take probably 15 years. The project has the full endorse ment of President Coolidge, Secre tary Work, Secretary Hoover and i General Goethals. ! Redeeming worthless land and I making it productive is about the | best business a Government can en- Igage in. MAY PROTECT MEATS FROM SKIPPER FLIES RALEIGH, Jan. 9.* —-Much meat cured on the farm is subject to the attacks of the ham skipper which is a small fly resembling a winged ant. Maggots from eggs laid by this fly may cause considerable damage and it is a wise plan to wrap the meat or screen the smokehouse so that the fly cannot enter. Screen with 30- rnesh wire. to guard their distinguished patient against illness. V ■*' Congress got back on the job again last week and plunged almost imme diately..into aviolent discussion of - .marines and the battles iw Nica rauga. As usual, the critics, of the administration —whatever the party in power—-were the loudest. They indulged in much oratory, but the President refrained from garrulity. He did, however, heat congress to it on the proposed investigation of the submarine horror off the New Eng land coast by ordering an investiga tion of his own to fix responsibility and blame, if any. Little scraps of important news featured the week. Canny Uncle An day, as the irreverent newspaper men refer to Secretary Mellon, told the world that another half billion dol lars had been lopped off the national debt. Mr. Hearst’s $16,000 invest ment in Mexican documents attack ing the integrity of American Sena tors was a sorry purchase, exports declared in vigorously asserting that the documents were clumsy forgeries. Senator Brookhart sought, by am ending the federal reserve act, to unloose the jaws of, maybe, a money trust that is putting the brakes on business by charging interest rates that the Senator thinks are much too high. Secretary Kellog has been sweating for eight months over the making of a treaty with France to outlaw war and now wants the whole world to come up with France The federal tax bureau stopped fig and sign on the dotted line, uring long enough to tell the world that 228 Americans had incomes of more than $1,000,000 apiece in 1926. Paulina Longworth, whose father is Speaker of the House and whose gTandfather, sometimes called T. R., was President of the United States, got dressed up in her first little par ty dress—a sweet little vision " of pink—and went to her first party. President Coolidge and his graci ous lady shook more than 3,000 very cold hands the day after New Year’s. They stood and pumped arms for more than three hours, and looked pretty tired when it was over. Flood control committees of congress got down to bras stacks on plans for shackling the Mississippi. The grand jury looking into the jury-fixing bus iness in the Fall-Sinclair trial step ped over the District Attorney’s protest to say that the whole thing smelled to heaven and that certain persons ought to be punished. 1 Senator dtfPont of Wilmington put ( way linking the coasts into the form J way linking the saocstanother shrd of a bill before congress. And can ny Reed Smoot, who heads the Sen ate finance committee, sat on the tax bill and held the fort against all assaults to pass the bill before in come tax day, March 15, next. “LOCAL NEWS BRICKHAVEN, Jan. 9.—Mr. Tho mas of Cameron was a week-end vis itor here. Misses Leone and Louise Luther, of New Hill, have been : visiting some friends here. Miss Leone is a for mer teacher of the Brickhaven school and is always eagerly welcomed in the community. Mr. and Mrs. A. P. Harrington an nounce the arrival of little Miss Ra ! chel. Phyllis at Scott hospital, San ford on January 1. Mr. W. A. Griffin accompanied by Mr. R. E. Marks, of Sanford, will leave the first of the week on a hunting expedition at Currituck. The S. S. officers were unanimous ly re-elected at the regular annual election yesterday. Mr. N. T. Over by as superintendent, and Mr. A. P. Harrington as assistant. Mr. C. H. Marks will be the secretary and treasurer for another year and will have as his assistant Mr. Jack Har rington. Mr. Clinton Seawell spent the week end in Raleigh. Mrs. J. B. Lawton, and Miss Louise Harrington, after spending the holi days here with her parents has re turned to her home at Manassa, Va. She was Accompanied by her brother, Mr. Hayes Harrington, who will visit Washington before resuming his stu dies at the Moncure high school. Messrs. Ben. and Sam. Utley, of Mt. Gilead, spent the week-end here with their mother, Mrs. J. W. Utley. Mrs: J. H. Lawrence and little daughter are expected home from Mary Elizabeth hospital the latter part of the week. Mr. G. H. Marks and family are soon to occupy the old Marks home stead which is now the property of the Cherokee Brick Co. The regular meeting of the Brick haven Community club will be held at the school building Thursday eve ning at 7 o’clock. A number of the folks in the com munity enjoyed what is in this sec tion at least—a rare sport—that of seating on ice. A few days later one of the party was heard to remark in the language of Two Black- Crows, “We got skating mixed up with sui cide.” Leaf spot diseases of tobacco may be controlled by treating the 3|£d with the formaldebytie solutions VOLUME SO. NUMBER 17 MRS. LOIS UnVER DIES SUDDENLY Elect Lady, of Gulf, Passes Away Suddenly; Burial Monday Afternoon Every seat in the Presbyterian church at Gulf was occupied Monday afternoon when the whole popula* tion of the Village and scores of rep resentative men and women from Chatham county and other parts of state had assembld to pay their last respects to what is mortal of Mrs. Lois Anderson Mclver, who had - fallen asleep Saturday evening fct 7:30 o’clock. Mrs. Mclver had been in her usual health that day, had, in fact, been down town only a few hours before her death, which occurred without warning. The funeral services were held in the Presbyterian church at 3 p. m., Monday, being conducted jointly by her pastor, Rev. C. L. Wicker and Rev. D. Clay Lilly, of Reynold*. Several beautiful and comforting passages of Scripture were read and hymns appropriate to the solemn oc casion were beautifully rendered by the choir. At the request of the family, no word of tribute was spok en to the noble character of the deceased, but none was needed, since all present knew her as a lady, whose life had been a benediction to all about her. Mrs. Mclver was a daughter of Prof. Anderson of Davidson College and accordingly grew up i n an at mosphere of culture and religion. As a young lady, she was a teacher and one of real merit, as the writer who was a student in the school at Clinton in which she and her brother, Neill, were teachers, can, and does, here bear witness. . Soo nafter the close of her work in Cinton, about 40 years ago, she married Mr. John M. Mclver, a prominent citizen and successful merchant, of Gulf, where she has lived and reared a family of sveral children and mothered her husband’s older children, a task well accom plished, as the character and achiev ments of the two broods forcibly testify. Her husband did sveral years ago and now she has gone to join him in the Beulah Land. . ‘ Her own children are J. M., ' of Gulf; Dr. Monroe Mclver, of Bos ton, a lecturer in the Harvard Medi cal School, and Miss' Margaet Mc lver, of High Point The older Mc- Iver children are E. j., of Durham;. Miss Estelle, of Avery county, and Mrs. E. S. Gillespie, of Greensboro. ' Her brother, Dr. Neill A. Ander son, who was present at the fiiiteral, is on', of th most scholarly Presby terian ministers of the country and is at present pastor of the Indepen- I dent. Presbyterian church, of Savan- I nan .and has within the past year • published a book of sermons that ; has been praised by the very, highest authorities. Her sister, Miss Mary, was lady principal of Flora McDonald College during its earlier years, and possibly until her death. County Agent Plans Many Demonstrations Pastures, Soy Beans, Lespede* za, and Tobacco Flea Receiving Attentio i During this winter and springj it is hoped to begin ten pasture dem onstrations, five alfalfa demonstra tions, live sweet clover demonstra tions and three soy bean demonstra tions. lhe Mascot Lime Co. will furnish lime for these demonstrations at bulk prices, which means that the farmers will be able to obtain this lime in 100 lb paper bags, laid down at Siler City for $3.15 per ton and at Pittsboro for $3.60 per ton. The county agent has visited a number of farmers this week who have ex pressed their intentions of co-opera ting with the agent in these demon strations, but all of these demon strations have not been placed as yet and the agent will be glad to hear from any farmers who are interest ed in the growing of alfalfa, sweet clover or soy beans. The soy bean demonstrations will be conducted with the idea of turning under the soy beans this fall, and following in corn next spring. Inoculating ; will be furnished free. Farmers in Chatham county are showing much interest in lespedeza, f or Japan clover and a number have given the agent orders for seed. . Something like five hundred acres ■ are signed up for the growth of this i legume to date, and the agent hopes • to have one thousand acres signed up before it is too late to seed this i crop. Lespedeza can be seeded any . time from now on to the middle of f April, but the earlier the seeding, the btter. It can be drilled at the • rate of 12 lbs. per acre, or broad ! casted at the rate of 17 to 20 lbs. ■ per acre. A co-operative order of these seed is being made up, and or • ders are being taken now. The soy bean market shows nrom ‘ ise of being, higher this year than i last, an dthose farmers who buy seed i now, will be able to get them chcap , er than they will later in the ypar. • A co-operative order of soy beam is also being made up. Where v e seed are to be broadcasted or dri 1- ' ed, the Mammoth yellow variety is [ o (Please turn to page three)