North Carolina Newspapers

ESTABLISHED SEPTEMBER 19,1878 Notable Conspiracy Case Ends W ith Acquittal Jones and Scott Today VIVID YOUTH, DULL AGE. MAKING THE MISSISSIPPI j SAFE. j DEPEVV WISE MAN. COULD COOLIDGE SAY NO? • By ARTHUR BRISBANE In youth impressions are vivid, j and last into old age. Therefore, the manuscript of ‘‘Alice in Wonder- i land” sells for $75,259, a record j price, more than would have been : paid for the manuscript of Dante’s “Inferno,” or of Voltare’s “Zadig,” each word worth a thousand ‘‘Alice in Wonderland” manuscripts. Years dull imagination. Millions ! that remember “Robinson Crusoe,” j “Swiss Family Robinson,” “Gulliver’s Travels” vividly have a faint impres- I sion of more important books read later. Washington reporters say, prob- 1 ably inaccurately, that President Coolidge is “shocked” at the sugges tion of $750,000,000 to make the Mississippi River safe. A country that could given Ten Thousand Millions To Europe, add i half a billion a year to railroad re ceipts, and plan, wisely, to cut $200,- 000,000 a year from corporation taxes, need not shudder at the thot of spending part of a billion to make the Mississippi safe. Chauncey M. Depew, dead in his i ninety-fourth year, older than the j Republican party, which he served : long and faithfully, said: “I have! lived long becaus P I could laugh at j anything.” Os Napoleon, it was said that in ! his youth “no one ever saw him laugh.” He didn’t live ninety-three years, but he did live more in one day than amiable Mr. Depew in ail J his ninety-four years. Chauncey Depew attended 8,00!) banquets and never let boredom drive j him into eating too much. That’s j wisdom. He campaigned for Lincoln, got j $1.75 for his first legal services, liv- j ed under twenty-four Presidents, j from Andrew Jackson to Calvin Coo- j lidge, and knew* thirteen of them i personally. How many can name the twenty-four from Jackson on? Mr. Darrow of the House Naval Affairs Committee, told President j Coolidge his friends “still hoped he. would be a candidate.” The Presi-i dent replied: “I am afraid they will j have to be disappointed.” j Die-hard Coolidge enthusiasts will j find SOME comfort in that word j “afraid.” A man cannot help being ' persuaded if arguments are good. j Suppose the President were con- j vinced, as he may be, that his re-, nomination and re-election, a second time, would boom business, increase employment, stabilize prosperity, and free his party from oil stain danger, could he continue to say no? Aviation is a reality, says General , Atterbury, and railroads should know ; it. He is said to plan for the Penn- 1 sylvania a part railroad, part-flying machine service from the Atlantic j to the Pacific. The traveler would spend daylight j in the flyin e machine, night hours I on the train, cross the continent in forty-eight hours, avoiding mountain flying. This rumor is not guaran teed. New York merchants report busi ness excellent in women’s apparel. They buy more of it and less of it, more garments less material in them. Paper underwear for ladies makes | its appearance in several stores. Silk of wood, underwear of paper« —not pleasant news for cotton grow ers. Old British builders of wooden ships who said ships made of steel would sink in heavy storms would be interested in the Leviathan’s lates trip. She reached New York with her forecastle deck smashed, deck struc tures badly twisted by a wave said to be 150 feet high, that dropped 7,000,000 pounds of water on her deck at once. Men build shins that the ocean cannot sink. Water waves are heavier than air graves. Airships will soon he built that no air wave will worry. In Seattle a tiny Pomeranian barked too much. Its owner wanted the vocal chords removed, reducing the bark to a gesture, but humane societies said “No.” Dog Trainer Sanderlin removed the bark in two weeks by training “Obedience” is the secret, says he. “I taught Darkie (the Pomeranian) the meaning of the words ‘Shut up.’ ” That trainer might make a for tune in politics. CLEAN UP DAYS Clean up days, May 2,3, 4, un der the auspices of the civic dept, of the woman’s club. Everyone is requested to leave the trash from their premises in front of their home and it will be removed by the town. ktats library IS ~11 H me Chatham Kecord CANDIDATE Candidate for Commissioner ot Labor , and Printing Graduate of Wake Forest College; Teacher for 21 Tears; Editor lor 16 Tears. Veteran editor of Th P Chatham Record, Pittsboro, who is contest ing with Commissioner Grist and M. L. Shipman for the Democratic nomination for Commissioner of Labor and Printing. Mr. Peterson formerly operated the Sampson Democrat for a number of years and prior to that ran the Lumberton Argus. He taught school for 21 years and has been an editor for fifteen. Bennett Bank Case Started Tuesday Will Rainey, Charged With a Share in Robbery of Bennett Bank, Faces Jury in Chat ham Court. Hardly had the automobile con spiracy case been given to the jury before preparations were being made for the trial of Will Rainey, of Reidsville, on the charge of partici pating in the robbery of the Bank j of Bennett. The evidence against him is direct and consists of his identification as one of the men at Bennett when the bank was robbed. Cashier Purvis and two or three other witnesses pos itively identify him as the man who was in the car while th P robbery was going on. Rainey is depending upon j an alibi, presumably at this writing, for his defense. He is represented , by that masterly Lawyer, P. H. Glide well of Reidsvillp and Ray and Up church, of Pittsboro. The solici tor is assisted in the prosecution bv W. P. Horton. Grady Pugh, who was under con viction for robbery at Reidsville, and j in jail at Graham awaiting trial on j the charge of robbing the bank at 1 Elon and also the Bennett bank, played the eel a few days ago and glided out of the Alamance jail and : hied to parts unknown. His woman i chum, Nettie Jackson, is still held I as an accomplice in the Elon rob bery. The Rainey case will probably con tinue until after this paper is print ed. Frank Graham To Speak Here Friday ! The features of the coming com -1 mencement exercises of the Pitts boro school are worth while. Prof. Frank Graham, of the University, will be the speaker tomorrow (Fri day). Our people should turn out and give him a large audience. ' Friday evening the senior class, will give the annual play, which should draw a large crowd, Sun day Rev. J. H. Barnhardt, of Win ston-Salem, will preach at the school auditorium. Examinations are now in progress and the end of a prosperous and suc cessful season is rapidly approaching. Principal Waters and his excellent corps of teachers have done good work, and we feel that the standard of scholarship and general achieve ment is being steadily raised. ELIZA BYNUM WINS HIGH SCORE In the preliminary music contest i held under the direction of Mrs. Hen ry Bynum, Eliza Bynum, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Bynum made the highest score. Honorable mention is given Camilla Johnson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Vander Johnson for next highest score. Both of these girls are members of the fifth grade. For winning in the local contest, Eliza Bynum was presented by Mrs. Victor Johnson with a book on music appreciation from the music depart ment of the woman’s club. Eliza will compete in the State Music Memory contest to be held in Ral eigh on April 28th. PITTSBORO, N. C., CHATHAM COUNTY, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1928 ! Seven of the Thieves, AH Hail ing Except One From Be yond Chatham Limits, Sub mitted to Charges and Re-i ceive Terms in Prison. Case Lasted Nearly Ten Days, j Ending at Noon, Tuesday j Jones’ Character Saved Him of Penalty for Acts Technically Illegal Gratifying to His Friends. The notable conspiracy case end ed Tuesday noon with the acquittal of Claude Jones and f’rank Scott. Powers and Payne were already free for lack of evidenc P against them, j Sentences of terms in prison were given by Judge Lyon later in the day. The acquittal of Jones and Scott was very gratifying to their friends. After ten days of steady work, barring- Sunday, the notably case against the Presnells and others for conspiracy to steal and sell automo biles, reached its termination Tues day evening with the sentencing of the array of self confessed crimin als. Sixteen men stood under indict ment when the case came up for trial Monday of last week. First, R. M. Gatlin, who had been most recently arrested was given until the May term to prepare for trial. Gatlin came as a witness, but found him self indicted along with the others Monday. He is a brother-in-law of the Presnells. Bill Payne was al ready weighted down with 18 years of previous sentences to the neni- j tentiary and the case against him i was nolprossed. “Red” Harcrow is facing trial for the same crhjtie in the Federal courts and was left to the tender mercy of the Federal tribunals. early pleaded guilty and served as j witnesses for the state. Barber I is a youth of only eighteen. He [ was brought here from the Durham j chaingang, where he was sent after conviction for stealing a car. A compromise was being affected in that case in order that Barber may escape the roads for that offense and the papers had been prepared but not signed when Judge Bond sud denly died while holding the Durham court. He is the only one of those who actually was engaged in the stealing of cars who hails from Chat ham county, contrary to the impres sion that has gone forth that it is a hunch of Chatham rogues. David Walton White, a notary of Johnston City, Tenn., after trying- to secure abatement on the ground of non-residence, pleaded nolo conten dere, and simply waited during the trial for the final awarding- of pen alties. His offense was the inten tional fraudulent preparation of false titles or a very careless regard for! his official duties. The evidence of the confessed thieves indicated that he was not only aware of the na ture of the transaction but received good pay for his share of the work. J. Clifton Palmer rather early chan ged his plea from not guilty to guil-! ty. After the full story of the series of crimes as presented by Greer, Culler, Harcrow, and Barber. the Presnells threw up their hands. The bunch of defendants making a fight for freedom.had thus been cut down to four, though Culler and Harcrow hav 0 their turn in the Federal courts, and Gatlin here at the May term. Saturday it was decided that a > case could not b» made against Paul Payne and a non-suit was entered. J. B. Powers was acquitted by Judge Lyon on the ground that evidence was insufficient to convict him of any crime. That brought down the number of the sixteen still fighting here to two, both Chatham county citizens, Claude Jones and Frank Scott of Bennett. The battlp has waged chiefly about Jones. From the inception of the charge against Mr. Jones, much con cert! and interest have been felt by • his many friends in the county. His reputation has been not only unsulli ed by any hint of crime previously, but his character has been notably marked by its openness and nobility, j Hundreds of the best citizens of the j county had, and, have, faith in the | integrity of Claude Jones. No man in the county could have proven a better character. An array of the best men in the western half of the county gladly went upon the stand in his behalf. Jones is the manager of the Ben nett Motor Company, which has the agency for Ford cars. Like all the other Ford agents he was put to it to keep going until the new car should come upon the market and, accordingly, bought second-hand cars for his trade. And there came the rub. He bought too many cars from the Presnells and had them em ployed part of the time, it seems, as salesmen for him, though he was aware, or should have been aware, that one of the Presnells had served a term in the penitentiary. His defense to that implication and to the charge that h P had given an af fidavit that the ex-convict was a man of good character was that he had talked with the man and thought * o (Please turn to page eight) j Lawrence Indicted For Terry Murder Trial of Accused Set for May 14 Here Confident That He Will Be Acquitted. W. H. Lawrence, who was indict ed Wednesday of last week for the murder of Mrs. Annie Terry, who I was drowned at Avent s Ferry across | the Cape Fear river was brought j from Durham jail the next day and | arraigned before Judge Lyon. He 1 entered the plea of not guilty. | A contention arose Wednesday af ter tho indictment was in a§. to whether counsel for the accused man i should have permission to examine the state’s witnesses to learn what evidence the defendant had to meet. Judge Lyon stated that the Solicitor might give permission, the court might order the examination, or the defense could subpoena the witnesses for themselves and thus discover the evidence they had. Solicitor Wil liams was very earnest in his refusal Ito give permission, stating that it was against th p interest of the peo ple. His Honor reminded him that the defendant had a considerable in terest at stake as well as the peo ple. But the Solicitor was so ear nest in his opposition that Judge Lyon let the defendant take the third course and subpoena the witnesses. This was done the next day and thus the defense came into possession of the chief hits of evidence in the possession of the state. The reve lation has not seemed to daunt the counsel for the defense, who declare positively that they have a complete alibi for their client and that the evidence against him is altogether circumstantial. After the arraignment th P prison er was carried back to the Durham jail, where he is permitted to have certain privileges by paying the ad ditional expenses, we understand, which is all right, since a man held for trial is not under punishment but is being kept safe till his case j is brought before the jury. While everybody desires that the guilty person be discovered and be punished, of course his friends and even others hope that the former j highly esteemed citizen of Chatham j county and dependable contractor of j Durham can prove his innocence. I However, the burden is upon the j state to prove him guilty. But the right kind of alibi would probably leave no question of guilt in the minds of th P people. Still the prosecution claims to have strong evidence against the m»n. . _ a Mr. Lawrence has a strong array of counsel, composed of J. H. Pou of Raleigh, Fuller, Reade, and Fuller of Durham, Long and Bell of Pitts boro. It will probably prove a bat tle royal. Fine Entertainment By The Senior Class The graduating class of the Pitts boro high school, composed of 14 | girls and 13 boys, gave their enter ' tainment last Friday evening to a large and interested audience. It is the largest class in the history of the school and the house was packed for the occasion. The stage was made very beauti ful by the artistic arrangement of j massed dogwood overhead and clus ters of the same against the walis, thus composing a complete bower of flowers. The curtains, arranged in the form of a semi-circle, was fring ed with bridal wreath, above which was the legend in white jonquils, “1928.” Against such a.background the 27 seniors made a picture that will not scon be forgotten by their relatives and friends. The excellent singing caught the attention of the audience at the outset and the remainder of the pro gram was followed with keen inter est and strict attention. Principal Waters paid a splendid tribute to the class- for their fine spirit as students and high charac ter as youths. The program which was published last week was render ed with much credit to the partici pants. Th P history of the class was prepared and read by Lester Far rell, while Eugene Stroud rendered a prophecy of the future achieve ments and fortunes of th P various members of the group. It is inter | esting to note than Dan Farrell was i presented as a future editor of the Chatham Record, and the chap real ly has it in him to mak p a good one if he will apply his heart and mind to preparation for the task. The exercises were prepared and ; presented under the auspices of Mrs. j George H. Brooks, which itself gave ; assurance of its high quality. Bennett News There will be a Sunday school as sociation at Fall Creek Baptist church next Saturday and Sunday, April 28 and 29. Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Myrick of Car thage were visitors in the home of his father, W. R. Myrick of route 2 Saturday night. Mr. and Mrs. Efland Shields of 1 route 2 have moved to Highfalls. Mr. Kearney Kidd of Farm Life spent the week-end with home folk, • on route 2. : Mr. and Mrs. George Purvis of McConnell rout P 1, were visitors in the home of his brother Sunday. When Liars Had Ears Cropped McNeill Thnks the Croppers Would Have Been Busy Last Week. Ben Dixon McNeill, wno was a visitor here last week and observed somewhat of the trial in progress, wrote the following for his. paper, the News and Observer: Pittsboro. Saturday. Assuming that there is virtue and wisdom in Judge Shaw’s judicial conclusion that the Adam’s apple of a conscious liar will climb everisaly up and down his throat the minute he begins to lie from the witness stand, and assuming that time could be turned back a century and a half, this would have been a hard week on the official ear-cropper of Chat ham county, and by now he would , have collected several baskets of ears. They have been having a court over here with Judge Lyon ruminat ing through the trial of a dozen or such matter of thieves. This is not the verdict of the jury, and it is never safe to leav p out one’s “al leged” until the jury’s opinion has been written down in the book. It wouldn’t be safe to call them thieves but for the fact that almost every day some of them have arisen in their places and confessed their sins, they have confessed other people’c sins, and somewhat confusingly. Proper entrits have been made in th P books by the current successor to William Hoper, who used to be clerk of the court here and official score-keeper at the court and official score-keeper at the ear-croppings which followed every session. Judge Lyon has taken no formal cogniz ance as yet of the fact that there are some whose ears ought to come off, but I am somewhat persuaded that the truth has not been told whole heartedly. Truth is stranger than fiction, one hears, and I have read much fiction that is stranger than these sodden tales of thievery. These older records of William Hooper are very much more divert ing than th p entries made by his current successor at the direction of the judge. Where Richard Caswell told William Hooper to make an entry that some ancestor of present day Chatham should have his ears cut off for lying on the witness stand Judgp Lyon judically bides his time. Some time today he will be directing the current successor of Mr. Hooper to record the fact that this one or that of the confessed thieves be dealth with after the un ual manner. No longer does the usual manner have to do with cropping off the ears of the prisoners. I do not ad- o (Please turn to page eight) Worth Elkins Killed Goldston Boy Victim of Acci dent—Truck Turns Over— Arthur Gaines, the Driver, Is Hurt. A most lamentable accident occur red near Goldston one day last week in which Worth Elkins, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Elkins, was killed and Arthur Gaines, son of B. W. Gaines, was injured, but not dan gerously. The latter was driving the truck and is said to have been going along at a good pace when he had to turn aside for a car to pass. The truck turned over with the re sults indicated above. Arthur Gaines was taken to a Sanford hospital, where h p was re ported as recovering from his in juries. Worth, a bright boy of 15, was buried Thursday afternoon at Goldston. PROGRAM Memorial services to be held at Rock Springs Baptist church, one and one-half miles north of Pittsboro, the first Sunday in May. , Every body is invited. 1. Devotional reading and prayer by the pastor, W .F. Cates of East Durham. 2. Report of the Cemetery com mittee. 3. An address by Rev. G. W. Un derwood of the Christian church giv ing an outline of the foundation of the memorial services as no wheld in our State and Nation. 4. Song by the choir. 5. An address by Hon. Walter D. Siler, giving a history of the Old Sandy Creek association and the part that th P Old Rock Springs church has taken in this great or i ganization. 6. Song by the choir. 7. Adjourn for dinner. 8. Song by the choir. 9. Address by Rev. J. F. McDuffie of Chapel Hill, and of the Mt. Zion j association. Miss Mary Kidd and brother Lacy, motored to Farm Life last Monday. They were accompanied by their j brother Kearney who is in school. Quite a large crowd from Beulah ! Baptist church .went to visit their pastor, Rev. A. G. Lassiter of Star, I who has been sick for quite a while. I We hope he will soon be well again. Miss Madie Kidd was a visitor , last i Sunday afternoon in the home of ! Miss Mava Purvis. Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Purvis of route 2, were visitors in Highfalls Sunday. VOLUME 50, NUMBER 32. Would-Be Grafters Seek Big Money For Flood Relief Owners of Cheap Lands in Flood Belt Hope to Unload on Government at Big Prof it. President on Guard. How the Several Candidates Seem to Stand Looks Like Smith on First Bal lot—Lowden in the Running —Capital Friendly to Hoov er. By WILLIAM P. HELM, Jr.,"wash ington Correspondent of The Record WASHINGTON, April 24.—An other sinister and powerful lobby threw its shadow across Capitol Hill last week. Apparently well organ ized and abundantly financed, with at least five sleek agents working the field at the same time, this lob by exerted its efforts to th P maxi mum as the House neared the vote on flood control. It was out to force through con gress the highest-moneyed flood con trol measure that could be passed. Back of its activity was the prospect of good profits through the sale of land to the government. The lands it had for sale lay along the Mississippi and would come within the scope of federal purchase under the kind of legislation it advocated. Some of these lands had been ced ed years ago by the government to lumber and other companies. Some of them, according to report, had been hastily placed under recent op tion by firms or persons scenting the quick profits through early sale to Uncle Sam. Still others had been denied of their lumber and were to be sold, stripped and bare, at fat prices that would yield good gains. “I know of at least five companies that have their men here working vigorously for the early passage of flood control,” a Representative told this correspondent two days before the House was to reach a vote on the measure. “The land they own ed originally cost them almost noth ing. It was covered with lumber. They cut the lumber and now plan to sell the cut-over land back to the government at from $lO to $75 an acre. Much of it cost less than $5 an acre. The profits they have al ready made on the timber doubtless have been considerable and now the companies are planning to get from three to ten times the original cost of their holdings in addition.” There were other influences, too, at work for a huge federal program. Some of these were honest and sin cere in their belief that the govern ment should perform the great task of checking futur P floods in a big and effective way, worthy of the na tion. These men were not blind to the possible graft that might be ob tained by the lobbying interests, but thought that the government could be depended on to drive a proper bargain with this gentry when pur chase time should come. Long before the vote was taken, it becam p apparent that the majority sentiment in the House was that the government should perform the task and pay the bill in full from the federal treasury. President Coo lidge, alarmed at th P prospect of enacting a measure which he deem ed “extortionate” in its ultimate cost to the nation, * called party leaders to the White House and apprised them so vigorously of his fears that they went back to revise the mea sure and, if possible, whip it into some semblance of what the Pres ident wanted. Great Haul Made On Blockaders Deputies Seize Big Still, Much Sugar and Meal, and a Big Car in Williams Township— One Negro Captured. Deputies Womble, Farrington and other officers made a most success full raid in the remotest corner of Williams township Monday after noon and came into Pittsboro with the goods and one man. Since Sunday noon the men had watched the still. Two men were seen working at it, but it was hoped that more concerned would come up on the scene. Monday, when it was about ready for operation and when no others had come, the officers made the raid. They got one of the two negroes hut the other escaped. They seized a good Hudson car and loaded it up with 600 pounds of sugar and 2 1-2 sacks of meal and other paraphernalia. The big copper still was brought in upon a truck. 2,500 gallons of beer were de stroyed. It is supposed to be an outfit operated by Durham capita! with the two negroes as only employ ed hands. Sheriff Blair stated that it was the biggest capture of sup plies he had made, possibly during his whole career as sheriff. CARD OF THANKS I desire to thank my friends and neighbors for the kindness shown my brother, B. F. Tyson, and the assis tance rendered us during his illness and after his death. We will ap i predate it. y L. A. TYSON.