North Carolina Newspapers

ESTABLISHED SEPTEMBER j,1878 County Historical Society Aborning Meetings For The Discussion ! Os Local History Are Planned There is an infant of promising achievement aborning, it is the Chatham County Historical Society. Several months ago, in accord with a state-wide movement, Mrs. Henry A. London was appointed the county historian. She appointed a committee to assist her in the re search and preservation of historical data. Saturday was the first meet ing of the committee, though only four answered to the call of Mrs. London. Few as were those present, how ever, the meeting was both pleas ant and profitable. It was decided that the first matter of moment is to arouse a eounty-wide interest in the history of the county, which is far richer than the average Chatha mite, native or imported, has real ized. In accord with that idea, or pur pose, Supt. Reid Thompson was ap pointed a committee to arrange for meetings at the various centers of the county at which they county his tory will be discussed, with empha sis upon the history of the commu nity in which the meeting is held. It was decided to arrange for a meet ing at the Moncure school, as Lock viile and Haywood are two of the most historic spots in the county. At the several meetings opportu nity will be given for those inter ested to enroll themselves as mem bers of the Chatham County His torical Society. The date of that meeting has not yet been determin ed, but that and other dates will be furnished to the county papers as they are fixed. While at this meeting the editor was presented with one of the few remaining copies of a historical sketch of the county as delivered in a Fourth of Ju,ly celebration at Pittsboro in 1786 by Major H. A. London. Turning through it, the writer, as an example of what in teresting things may be discovered, found that the first bridge built in Chatham county was the Sypart bridge, later the Prince bridge, and now the Seaforth bridge across New Hope creek. The contract for the building of that bridge was ordered to be let to the low bidder just 150 years ago. Today the splendid new concrete bridge stands there just completed, which makes this histor ical fact of unusual aptness just now. Another thing, the little building where the big tree w'as blown up be hind the L. NL_Womble store here, was the location of a Bowie knife factory during the war of the sixties. That was Dr. West Harrison's office, which was converted into a Bowie knife factory, and Mrs. London re calls seeing the dread weapon in the making in the little building now t standing there. > In fact, there are a thousand | things in the 200 years of Chatham history which should be rescued and j preserved. Os course, many of them j are already in the histories, but it ; is the hoQ.e to make them more pop ularly available, and the common j property of all intelligent Chatha- j mites. A most delightful feature of the session Saturday was the serving of j delicious refreshments by Mrs. Cor- j don, daughter of the hostess and: county historian. Those present and enjoying the occasion were W. D. Siler, Reid S. Thompson, J. B. At water, and O. J. Peterson. The oth- i er fellow's, at least some of them, would surely have been present if they could have known how enjoy able the occasion would prove. A SILER CITY MAN ARRESTED IN RALEIGH (Raleigh Times) Camouflaged as a vegetable truck piled high with sacks purporting to contain potatoes, a rum running hotch truck was intercepted here Friday night while passing through the city and found to contain 85 half gallon jars of whiskey. The driver, who gave his name as R. W. Stewart, of Siler City, was arrested and is being held in the city jail in default of SSOO bond. Detectives Saturday followed this whiskey seizure with a raid on the home of Brewer Powell, a negro liv ing in the Lincoln Park section, and captured 24 half-gallon jars of whis key. The negro furnished SIOO bond. The truck was halted by Detect ives Bailey and Glover, who caught a glimpse of something which looked like paper cartons beneath a pile of sacks. They inquired of the driver the nature of his load and were told that he had a load of potatoes. In vestigation, however, disclosed that the sacks contained straw instead of potatoes and the cases held corn whiskey of the quality usually dis pensed by moonshiners. Stewart told the detectives that j he had no business in Raleigh, but j was merely passing through the city I on his way to Siley City. Flubb: “He’s always boasting that he keeps his word!” Dubb: “Well, no one else ever takes it!” Diner (indignantly) : “Bring the proprietor here at once, there’s a wasp i n my soup!” Waiter: “It’s no use sending for the boss, sir. He’s scared of ’em hisself. The Chatham Record — l ■ * America’s Richest Girl Miss Doris Duke, 15, daughter of the late James B. Duke, tobacco financier, who was just awarded by the Supreme Court a $1,600,000 Fifth Avenue House filled with the richest furnishings, a private rail road car bearing her name, four automobiles, a collection of rare tapestries and other luxuries worth a fair sized fortune. She is the richest girl of her age in America. NEW HILL ITEMS Mrs. Sis Ffinesly was buried in New Elam church cemetery last Wednesday afternoon. She was a native of Chatham county but had been an inmate of the county home in Wake county for a few years, having no relatives with which to live, she went to Raleigh. Mrs. Hinesly was 77 years old. Funeral services were conducted by Mr. Ruf fin Farrar. He said she had been of help to so many people especially in this vicinity and that there were but few homes that she had not been in to care for the sick. As she has no relatives to give the writer any information we cannot write of her. We know her husband has been dead many years, and that before her marriage she was a Miss Welch. Quite a large crowd from this section last Friday afternoon atten ded the funeral of Mr. Joe Sturdi vant of the Mt. Pleasant section. Mr. Sturdivant was reared here. He w'as a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Robert Sturdivant. He married Miss Bettie Mann, also of this community, w'ho with several grown sons and daughters survive him. He also leaves two sisters, Mrs. Hattie Wil son of Raleigh; Mrs. Winslow Good win of Apex; two brothers, R. F. Sturdivant of New Hill; J. E. Stur divant of Bynum. All the sick of this vicinity seem to be improving. We are glad to note, and hope all will soon be com pletely well again. i Mr. and Mrs. Lassie Sturdivant of Cary were guest Thursday night of Mr. R. F. Sturdivant and family, j There was a box supper at Merry ■ Oaks school Saturday night the benefit Merry Oaks Baptist church. The boxes did not sell for a great I amount, but the prizes and other f things sold all amounted to a neat sum. Mr. Buchanan of Bonsai re | ceived the prjze for being the ug i liest man, and Miss Thelma Auman : was voted the prettiest girl and re ceived a large cake.. February 27 being little Miss Myr tle Beckwith’s fourth birthday an niversary on Sunday Mrs. Beckwith, Myrtle’s mother, prepared an excel lent birthday dinner for her, which she enjoyed very much. Those pres ent were Mr. W. H. Beckwith, the little hostess’ grandfather; Miss. Mary and Remie Webster and C. D. Webster. Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Drake and son John, Jr., of Greensboro, spent the week-end with Mr. and Mrs.j W. A. Drake. MR. JOE STURDIVANT A SUICIDE VICTIM The sad news was heralded over the county Thursday that Mr. Joe Sturdivant had shot himself at his home a few miles from Bynum. The rash act was committed on the pi azza of the home and the instrument used was a shotgun. The load of shot was fired into the breast, i The only explanation of the deed was the ill health of Mr. Sturdivant the 'past two years. * The burial took place at Mount Pleasant Methodist church Friday afternoon. He leaves his wife, who was Miss Bettie Mann, and one daughter and four sons. MACHINERY ORDERED FOR NEW COAL MINE The anthracite coal mine, just across the Chatham line in Moore county, but belonging to the Dor i sett family of Siler City and others, | has been shut down for the present. 1 Machinery for the operation of the mine on a larger scale has been or- I dered and will be placed upon ar rival. The Record carried a descrip tion of the mine several months ago, and it w r ill be recalled that the coal is a high-grade anthracite and easi ly accessible, being near the surface. Operations hitherto have been on a small scale, with simple imple ments. The opening of this mine i places Moore with Chatham and j Lee as having the monopoly of North j Carolina coal. PITTSBORO, N. C., CHATHAM COUNTY, THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1928 Washington Letter . , Congress Hears From The Peo ple Naval Appropriation Bill Cut To The Bone—- Hoover On Flood Relief. (By WILLIAM P. HELM, Jr., Wash ington Correspondent of The Chat ham Record.) ! WASHINGTON, Feb 28.—f Co n! gress heard last week from the folks j back home. So did the White House. By letter, petition and telegram, the quiet,men and women of the nation, back on the lonely farms, in the small towns and villages, and of the great cities, found voice. Like the roar of the surf on a rockbound coast, it rolled in upon the capital, a deafening deluge of command. And it was the Master’s Voice that spoke. They spoke of many things, those everyday home folks, but mainly they thundered an emphatic veto to the great naval building program that President Coolidge advocates and congress now is seriously con sidering. From almost every quar ter of the nation came w T ord that the great armada must be built. Amer ica, said the home folks, is at peace with all mankind and needs no mi ghty fleet as a plaything to tgmpt her bureaucrats to war. The billion dollar bill for building the fleet, mammoth though it be, was hardly mentioned. That wasn’t the point of the protests. There are many billions one protesting* woman wrote, quick to jump into action for the building of warships really need ed, but not a dollar for armament to ruffle the world’s serenity or to plant distrust in hearts abroad. And congress answered with a sweeping reduction in the program. The House naval affairs committee junked the President’s plan for 71 fighting vessels including 32 sub marines and recommended that only 16 vessels be built —14 cruisers and one airplane earner. The proposed cost dropped from $1,000,X)00,000 to $274,000,000. This measure brought about by the pressure of public pro test, is now before the House. It may be that the program will be cut still more. The plan is dead. And once more the silent master of the White House as he looks out from his window to the Virginia hills, has learned the identity of the men and women who run the U. S. A. Next in importance, perhaps, was Herbert Hoover’s appearance before a Senate committee to answer the question, “Where do you stand on flood control?” Mr. Hoover read from a prepared statement. He care fully avoided offending President. Coolidge and at the same time ap parently sought to win favor of the States. The President, it will be re membered, wants the States to pay about $1,000,000,000 of the flood control bill and the States want Un cle Sam to pay it all. Mr. Hoover, apparently, is learn ing the political game. He told the committee he would favor the ap pointment of a federal commission to find out about this matter of the States paying something and report back in a year. That would be after election, of course. In the mean time, congress, he said, could go ahead and appropriate money for preliminary work. It was a straight out compromise that avoided a yes or-no answer. The committee believed that Mr. Hoover had crawled out of a hole after him. He declared that the President approved his program. Senator Jim Reed shot out of Washington for the Southwest and left a comet-like tail of oratory be hind him. Governor Lowden’s pri vate Secretary came to Washington and attended to important campaign affairs, ’tis said, albeit without pub liciyt. Attorney General Smith of Kansas journeyed to the capital to get himself admitted to practice be fore the Supreme court and w'hile here waxed enthusiastic over the chances of Senator Charles Curtis, Kansas favorite. As an aftermath of the alleged attempt jury-fixing in the Fall-Sin clair trial, the courts found Harry F. Sinclair, William J. Burns and his son and Henry M. Day, Sinclair’s business pal, guilty of contempt of court. Sentences: Sinclair, six mos. in jail; Day, four months; the elder Burns, 15 days; junior SI,OOO fine. The cases were appealed, of course. For a time, at least, there are likely to be no attempts at jury-fixing in the District of Columbia. Lobbyists engaged the Senate’s at ention. Mr. Carway of Arkansas put in a bill tomake the lobbiists regis ter with the Secretary of the Senate and file monthly statements of their expense accounts, all under heavy penalty for failure to obey. If this measure is passed, the Senate will have to put some more clerks on the payroll as there are hardly fewer than 5,000 lobbists in Washington. And what a good time the newspa pers will have with those expense ac counts. Incidentally, the bill prob ably will pass. Some of Washing ton’s most prompous windbags will then be punctured. A Senate committee took train for the coal fields of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to learn, at first hand, conditions there. The House passed a bill to send our gold-star mothers to Europe, at government cost, that these bereaved women may visit the graves of their soldier dead. “Uncle Andy” Mellon ruled against making 50 cent pieces bear ing Lindberg’s profile—said, it was not done in the case of living men— but congress went merrily ahead on the idea anyhow. President Coolidge and his satell- Goldston Items Miss Ethel Key and Mr. Vann Oldham were united in marriage at Gulf Sunday afternoon about five o ? ciock at the home of Rev. Mr. Wicker. Mr. Wickjer performed the ceremony. Mrs. Oldham’s home is in Cairo, j Georgia. She has taught mathe matics in the Goldston school for the past two years. Mrs. Oldham is an accomplished young woman. She is a graduate of Bessie Tift college, of Georgia. Her work here has been very successful. Her pupils like her and she is highly esteemed by all who know her. She has an attractive personality and pleasing person ality. We are glad that she has de cided to reside in North Carolina. Mr. Oldham is the son of Mr. C. G. Oldham, of Goldston. He is a fine young man with a good char acter. He is generally liked by all who know him. He has recently gone in business as a merchant in Gulf. Mr. and Mrs. Oldham's manv friends no doubt wish them much success and happiness with many years of happy wedlock. Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Goldston, of Elizabethtown, were visitors here last week. They were accompanied home by Mrs. Goldston’s nieces, Misses Mary Womhle Elkins Bernice Elkins and Mrs. Landon Riley and little son. Mrs. Rilye will reside in Elizabethtown as Mr. Riley is at work in that section. Rev. L. M. Chaffin filled his reg ular appointment at the Methodist church last Sunday morning. He preached a good sermon in his usual earnest manner. > Mr. James Goldston is in South Carolina this week on business. EGGS-ACTLY SSOO FOR A HEN L - # \ That’s what F. A. Sausome paid J the University of British Columbia not long ago for one White Leghorn hen. She weighed four pounds and $125 a pound is a pretty high price for a chicken, but she was worth it, all right. You see, she laid 230 eggs in 234 days. Not to be outdone by her Cana dian cousin, Pullet No. 211, owned by Eugene Brown, of Northampton county, North Carolina, cackled 323 times in 365 days, and she didn’t lie a single time. Consider also the case of Will Lay, of Marion county, Tennl, who made $499.57 clear profit on a floch of 1500 hens in three months. Evi dently the hens owned by Will Lay -will lay. Then there’s A. R. Broad-, water, of Edgefield county, S. C., whose 270 hens netted him a profit of $625 dollars from January 1 to July 1, 1927. If you want figures that will make you dizzy just think about them, take i a nation-wide look at our poultry in- i dustry. Every year American hens j lay enough eggs to pay the cost of two Panama Canals. Poultry raising is a billion dollar crop. It is our fifth biggest farm line and it is growing so rapidly it’s hard to keep up with its growth. Here’s another way of sizing, it up. To eat all the eggs produced in this country last year eleven men would have had to start their meal i twenty centuries B. C. and eat an egg a minute every day and night. PIE SUPPER There will be a pie supper at Car- 1 oline schoul house Wednesday night, i March 7, 1928. The proceeds will go for the benefit of the school. Ev erybody invited. ites crossed the Potomac on* Febru ary 22, and attended opening ser vices at the $4,000,000 George Washington Masonic Memorial. The House heard, once more, Washing ton’s Farewell Address. So many prohibition agents fell down on the civil service exams held last fall that it looked, for a time, as if nobody would be left to make the rounds. Now examinations, it was announced, are to be held soon. Uncle Same decided to send eight more commercial agents abroad to help revive our export business. A New York Congressman pressed a bill providing for a hurry-up of the federal building program. This, he said, would help provide jobs for some of the 4,000,000 people esti mated by him to be out of work in the country. “Helen Maria” Dawes, or, more properly, Charles G. Dawes, Vice- President of the United States, wen up to Newark, N. J., and made a talk. “Listening to those long-win ded speeches in the Senate,” he said “is worse than war.” William Green of Council Bluffs, lowa, lean, lithe, handsome and 71, was named by President Coolidge to a life time job at $12,500 a year as Judge of the Court of Claims. Mr. Green is—or was, till he got the new* job—chairman of the House ways and means committee. In a way, as President Coolidge and “Un cle Andy” Mellon look at it, Mr. Green has been naughty in upsett ing the apple cart on tax legislation. Hence he is to be punisred. There are 500 more candidates for that kind of punishment up on Capitol Hill. Congress complained of the bad air at the Capitol. So the budget director, General Lord, put an item of $323,000 in the estimates for the purpose of giving the House and Senate better ventilation. Hence congress soon will be relieved of the suffering caused by its own hot air But—how about the rest of us? j- —i! Farm Boys and Girls 'Senator Arthur Capper who has just" introduced a bill which fur nishes what he calls a “practical program for the advancement of agriculture.” It asks for Federal aid to exten the agricultural education of bo* and girls on the farms. MONCURE ITEMS We are sorry to state that Mr. Clay Farrell, carrier on route one is ill today. Miss i-aliie Hacxney, wno has spent about-a month with her sister, Mrs. J. F. Sparrow, of New York, returned to her home here last Thur sday. Since her return Miss Hack ney has been doing some supply work at the post office. Mr. Stormy Maddox who has been here looking after the estate of Mad dox Bros, left here Thursday night for his home at San Potosi, Mexico ; He was accompanied by his Mrs. W. C. Maddox, as for as Gra ham, Texas, where Mrs. Maddox will visit her son who lives there. Notices have been posted that the Steam Electric Plant of C. P. and L. Co., will materially reduce their force of employees in the near fu ture. It has caused a certain amount of uneasiness among the men. This is very regrettable as this plant em ploys a great number of men and we regret to lose any of our citizens. We are informed the hydro-elec tric plant at Norwood has been put in operation and there is plenty of water, so the Steam electric plant here is not needed at present. The Epworth League met at the j usual hour last Sunday evening. Miss j Ruth Womble, the president, called ! the meeting to order. Miss Lois Ray ! called the roll and read the minutes of the last meeting. Mrs. W. W. Stedman was leader for the evening. Messrs. O. M. Mann and Floyd S. Harmon was the unlucky ones drawn on the jury at Raleigh last Thursday out of 150 men from Chatham. Messrs. W. W. Stedman and J. E. Holt are the unlucky ones from Haw : River township to be drawn on the I i jury for court at Pittsboro, March i '"the sth. A birthday party was given at the j home of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Sted i man last Saturday afternoon in hon ! or of their daughter, Camelia, whose j birthday was Feb. 22. The color, j scheme for the occasion was red, I j white and blue, patriotic colors, for j her birthday came on the same date ! as Geor.ge Washington. Twenty of her friends and school- ; mates were present. An afternoon of games and contests were enjoyed, | after which refreshments were serv ed. . She received many nice pres ents. PRAYER SERVICE HELD AT THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH A United Prayer Service was held at St. Bartholomew’s church on Fri day afternoon. A large number of women from the different churches came together in a meeting both spiritual and impressive. Rev. G. R. Shannonhouse opened the service with appropriate prayers after which a hymn was sung. Mrs. Mary Bar ber of the Presbyterian church who had as her subject, “Answer To Prayer,” made the first address. She gave many instances from the Scrip ture, showing direct answer to pray er. Mrs. Shannonhouse pointed out the effect of prayer on the one praying, this being the subject of her talk. Mrs. Victor Johnson gave personal instances of answer to pray er. Mrs. Horton, of the Methodist church in her remarks on “Peace” suggested that the way-we could be gin to work for Peace would be to hold up before our children the lives of men who have become famous along other lines than war. She men tioned several men of today who • are pioneers in their line of work and most worthy of emulation. Mrs. George Brewer, of Baptist church, in speaking on “United Prayer,, brot most forcefully to each of us the true meaning of prayer. Her re marks formed a fitting closing for the service. JOHN MANLY GILMORE Mr. John Manly Gilmore, aged 75, died in a Greensboro hospital Mon day, February 13, and was buried at Rives Chapel Tuesday. Rev. E. W. Byerly, of Bonlee, conducted the fu neral services. He was the father of Mr. C. 0. Gilmore. Hje wife survives him. VOLUME 50. NUMBER 24 State Failed to Make Out Case Trial of Alleged Floggers in Wake Turns Out to be a Water Haul l After all the trouble' and expense j of getting a Chatham county jury to try the flogging case in Wake county, the state failed to make out a case and a verdict of not guilty was directed by Judge Harris, at the instance of the Solicitor and private prosecution counsel last Friday eve ning, and the jury was dismissed and hustled back to The first venire, probably known now by every citizen, was turned down because of irregularities in the manner of drawing it, and a second veneir of 150 was ordered drawn Wednesday evening to report in Ra leigh Thursday at • 2 o’clock. This drawing was made under the direc tion, or supervision of Clerk Hatch. Late into the night and early the next morning some of the deputies were pressing through rain and mud dy roads to summon the men and get them started to Raleigh. Four big busses came Thursday morning to take back the men. Some began to reach Pittsboro early in the day, but it was five o’clock before the last straggling ones came in and were sent on to Wake. Three of the busses carrying about 70 men got off in time to reach Raleigh for the afternoon session and work of selecting the jury was started, while the other bus remained here and the sheriff’s office was striving to get in touch with the deputies still in the field and get reports on the summoning. Mr. Fred Straughan, over in Bear Creek, seemed to have the hardest and longest job. It was two or three o’clock before he re ported over phone that he had ser ved all his men, and that some of them were then on the way. It was decided that it would be better to wait until the report could be com plete that no technicality may cause another exception to the venire. However, the jury had been select ed from the seventy who first ar rived in Raleigh before the late ones arrived. Fewefc than a hundred men, all told, of the 150 actually reached Pittsboro and v/ere forwarded on to Raleigh. The jurors were as fol lows: J. I. Lindley, Hadley; Orris M. Mann. Haw River; T. B. Thrift, Had ley; John A. Marshall, Hadley; C. H. Marks, Cape Fear; R.-A. Horton, New Hope; J. R. Poe, Oakland; W. J. O’Daniel, Baldwin; J. M. Durham, Baldwin; J. R. .Goodwin, New Hope; Floyd S. Harmon, Center; Gordon Keck, Center. If the case had continued, the 12 Chathamites would probably have been held apart from others over Sunday and possibly until Tuesday or Wednesday. Consequently, there was probably no grief on the part of the Chathamites when y the prosecution decided that it could not make a con vincing case and threw up its hands. CLUB NOTES The February meeting- of the I Music Department met with Mrs. i W. P. Horton on Saturday evening, j Two new members w'ere given a most | cordial welcome. Mrs. Brown and ! Mrs. Braxton of Bynum were the two new members. After repeating the Collect the secretary, Miss Emily ! Taylor, called the roll and read the I minutes of the previous meeting. 12 j members were present, among the ! number, the oldest member of the de I partment, Mrs. Henry London. It I was a pleasure to have her with us again. Mrs. Victor Johnson, Chairman, announced that the Music Depart ment had furnished six double Victor records and two books of instruction for use in the Music Memory Con test. At the conclusion of the business meeting, a delightful program was rendered on the Victrola, the depart ment records being used. A sweet course was served by the hostess. CELEBRATE SILVER WEDDING Mr. J. B. Atwater, of Bynum, went up to Durham Saturday even ing to join Mrs. Atwater in a trip to Raleigh to be present Saturday night at the celebration of the silver anniversary of the marriage of her brother, Mr. C. C. Page and Mrs. Page, Mrs. Page was a Bundy Mr. Page and Mrs. Atwater are double first cousins of Messrs. Henry, Frank and R. N. Page, and the late Walter Page of world-wide renown. Mr. Page is city commissioner of public work** in Raleigh, but was formerly a railroad man. MUCH SICKNESS IN COUNTY There has been numerous cases of illness in the county, though for tunately there have been compara tively few fatalities. Mr. J. W Womble has been seriously ill of pneumonia. Mr. Fred Lilly has suffered from a combination of ills and has been very ill. Mr. Frank May was sick all last week and is not yet well. Mr. J. M. Dismukes at Carbonton was critically ill. Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Scott of Farrington were also among the sick, the for mer having a severe case of pneu monia. Mrs. O. J. Peterson has not been well for several weeks and has been confined to her bed a goodly part of the time. Mrs. J. W. Moor? is convalesting satisfactorily from an operation at Watts hospital some time ago. She is at home.