North Carolina Newspapers

A Pap*** with a Prestige of a Half Century. A County, Not a Com munity Paper. ESTABLISHED SEPTEMBER 19, 1878 HIGHWAY NINETY IN THEUMELIGHT Agitation for Hard-Surfacing Missing Links Assurances Given by Commissioners Cox and Hill—Meeting at Pitts boro Interest in Highway Ninety has been running high. There has been a feeling, and aparently not without foundation, that there has been dis crimination against this important east-and-west highway, but we are reliably informed that both Commis sioner Cox and Commissioner Hill have given assurances that they would give the earliest possible at tention to the missing links in this highway. > Mr. John W. Clark, of Franklin ville, who has done, perhaps, more than any other two men in setting before the highway commission and the people of the state the import ance of this shorter east-and-west route, has been particularly active the past few weeks. Mr. Clark hesitates very little, if at all, in charging discrimination by the commissioners in favor of their home cities, High Point and Durham. While all Randolph county, Mr. Clark practically declares, has been greatly concerned in getting an outlet to Lexington, Randolph’s quota has been spent in building highways to Ashe boro and on to Pinehurst from Greensboro and High Point, and right now a link from High Point to Julian is being hard-surfaced, which has given friends of Ninety the impres sion that an attempt is being made to parallel Ninety with a series of links between Ninety and Highway Ten. The link from High Point to Julian, one from Chapel Hill east ward, and one from Chapel Hill westward go far toward effecting a second through route from High Point to Raleigh. Then, Mr. Clark shows, and every body knows, that the most obvious 1 thing to do when the county-seat to j county-seat scheme was laid out was to connect Pittsboro directly with the state capital and county seat of Wake county, and thus secure direct con nection between Asheboro and the state capital. But that was not done. Instead of running highway fifty through--Pitts bore, ifc-was laid"o»t- to parallel the S. A. L. railroad and on to Sanford, and Pittsboro was side [ tracked on a short branch from Mon [ cure. And this was done when the r distance from Cary to Sanford by a w direct highway to Pittsboro would have been scarcely three miles, we judge, further than the mile along the S. A. L., while it would have ; given transportation facilities to the ‘ great northeastern section of Chat ham county, where there is a real population. Furthermore, if highway fifty had come through Pittsboro, the building of the two exceedingly cost ly bridges across the Haw and! the Deep at Moncure would have been avoided. Chatham county had bridges PLEASE TURN TO PAGE FOUR $ Old Garner Mine E»eing Reopened (Sanford Express) A lot of the machinery has arrived and will at once be installed for op eration in the Gardner old coal mine on Deep River above Carbonton. It is planned to have the mine in operation in two or three weeks. The Express is informed that the com- which has been organized and making plans to operate the mine, m expect in the nbar future to con r struct some 30 or 40 houses for the families of the miners and establish a mining village at the mine. At present the company has’ no cooking, eating and sleeping quarters at the mine. The Express is informed that a leading capitalist and mine op erator of Chicago, who is interested in this company, recently visited the mine on an inspection tour. He pre ferred not to have his name mention ed in connection with the business for the present. “They said,” that Raskob, who voted for Wilson both times was a Republican. Now “they say” Wil liam D. Mitchell, Hoover’s attorney general is a Democrat. Maybe the truth of the matter is that both are " iust opportunist politicians. f THE NEW CABINET Secretary of State—Henry L. Stimson of New York. Secretary of the Treasury— Andrew W. Mellon of Penn sylvania. Secretary of War—James W. Good of lowa. Postmaster General —Walter F. Brown of Ohio. Attorney General —William D. Mitchell of Minnesota. Secretary of Agriculture—Ar thur M. Hyde of Missouri. Secretary of the Navy—Charles F. Adams of Massachusetts. Secretary of Commerce —Rob- ert P. Lamont of Illinois. Secretary of the Interior—Ray Lyman Wilbur of California. Secretary of Labor—James J. Davis of Pennsylvania. TV; Chatham Record WHY EGYPT WAS NAMED CUMNOCK Change Made in Honor of Men of New York and London by Name of Cumnock Who Headed Large Mining Interests. (Sanford Express) Last week The Express related an incident to show how Egypt, now Cumnock, got its name. Below we publish a letter which explains why Egypt was changed to Cumnock: Winston-Salem, N. C., Feb. 25, ’29. To The Sanford Express: Your issue of February 21st re lates an instance leading to a change in name of the Evans Farm on Deep River to that of Egypt, reminding one of the old country’s bumper corn crop and the escape o,f Joseph’s brothers from the noted famine in Palestine, and asking why it was later changed to Cumnock. While serving one of the older mining companies there, who also op erated a large store and the farm, as secretary-treasurer and general agent pro tern, I recall having heard a visitor say the place was named in honor of men of New York and London, bearing the name of Cum nock, who headed large mining inter ests at the time and with whom some of the then stockholders hoped to form a connection with larger op erations. I presume the connection was never made, possibly on account of financial depression, regardless of the fact orders were said to have been on file about the time for more coal than could be produced with means at command. Now that both the farm and mines thereabout have been proven as to production, quality and strata, each headed by men of more recent suc cessful record, I would predict that ultimate complete success is not only probable but reasonably assured, and that Cumnock may not yet detest the change in name. “A Well Wisher.” P.-T. A. ASSOCIATION HONORS BIRTHDAY Enjoyable Meeting at School Buildipg Last Friday Eve ning—County-Wide Meeting Next Saturday The Parent-Teacher Association held its regular meeting on Friday evening, March 1. Mrs. Lee Farrell reported that the grade mothers had bought for first g 1 * de drawing paper, colored crayons ai. I a hectograph at a cost of $6.75. Mrs. G. Walker Blair reported that the senior class had collected from its members and other interested persons $19.50 for the purchase of a school clock. As has been the custom, the class of 1929 wished to leave something useful at the school to commemorate its passage—so each member gave 50c to this much need ed purchase. The president reported that twice she and a committee had served hot chocolate and wafers to visiting basketball teams. The association voted to pay three monthly installments due on an en cyclopedia, bought by the school, which amounted to $21.00. The president announced a county wide P.-T. A. Institute to be held at Pittsboro high school building on next Saturday, March 9. She urged every member to attend and said that there would be a picnic lunch served by the home association. The association decided to serve the dinner to the Masons on their banquet night, March 15. The splendid program, prepared by first and second grades for Wash ington’s birthday was repeated for the association and was much en joyed. _ , The president, Mrs. Cordon, an nounced that February 17 was Founders’ Day and that the associ ation was thirty two years old, and ten years old in North Carolina; so she had prepared a birthday party for this the Pittsboro chapter. Three tables were decorated with silver candlelabrae with white tapers in them. On the center table was the beautiful birthday cake with ten candles on it. At the other tables Mrs. Henry London and Mrs. George Brooks, Sr., poured coffee from a silver service and served cake to all who were there. It was a very lovely and pleasant social hour that Mrs. Cordon gave to the organization, and it was much appreciated. MRS. W. P. HORTON, Secy. <*> RICHARD H. WRIGHT DIES AT DURHAM —— Richard H. Wright, Durham capi talist, died in his home city late Monday afternoon He was 77 years of age. He made his money in the early days of the tobacco industry, and his fortune is estimated at from ten to twenty millions. In recent years he had given considerable sums to educational and charitable in stitutions. > before duty means that duty will lose out. PITTSBORO, N. C., CHATHAM COUNTY, THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1929 PITTSBORO’S NEW AUTO BUSINESS Branch Agency of Chevrolet Established Here—The Mills Motor Company—Mill, Grif fin, and Beard Compose the New Firm The Mills Motor Company has been formed here, with R. H. Mills, Sam Griffin, and D. C. Beard as members of the firm. It is taking over the agency for Chevrolets, but as a Chevrolet agency is a branch of the Economy Motor Company of Siler City. ' The new company is rushing a building to completion in west Pitts boro, on the Siler City Highway, and will be ready for business in a very few days. You will notice that the new firm has been added to the list of dealers at the foot of the quarter page Chevrolet advertisement. The firm will do a regular repair business and sell auto supplies. The members of the firm are re liable young men. Mr. Mills is an, experienced automobile mechanic and has been operating a garage and re pair shop in West Pittsboro for the past two or three years. Mr. Griffin has been with the Chatham Hard ware Company for several years and is one of the most reliable and com petent young men in Pittsboro. Mr. Beard is a son of Mr. H. G. Beard, and since graduating at the Pittsboro High School has had experience in several kinds of work. All three are reliable and genial, and should prove a good working team. $ You Will Get The Record a Day Later Ever since the fire destroyed The Record plant and forced us to have the paper printed by contract we have been somewhat seriously handi capped by having to have the paper printed a day too early each week. The Moore County News has been doing the work for us, but as it printed three other papers, The Record had to be printed on Tues day evenings, making it necessary for us to get the last copy mailed from Sanford at 3 o’clock Tuesdays, or from Pittsboro at 9 o'clock Tuesday mornings. Necessarily, some news that we should have carried each week was delayed, and we have miss ed considerable advertising by print ing so early, as it is usually the first of the week before the average ad vertiser decides what he wants for that week. It is with regret that we change printers, but the handicap was too much these hard times, when we cannot afford to lose the least bit of business. Accordingly, we have be gun having the paper printed at Hamlet, and this enables us to have it printed Wednesday afternoon, in stead of Tuesday evening, and we can send copy by bus as late as Wednesday morning. This will make the paper go into the mails a day later, but the most of the subscribers should get it on Fridays, instead of Thursdays as heretofore. Those who have been getting it Wednesdays should get it Thursdays. » But don’t postpone getting adver tising or news in; send it in as early as possible. The crowding of matter into the print shop the last day tends to make a bad job of the whole paper. Everybody cannot go to mill at sunset and expect to get his grist. Some copy can be handled late, but let that be the news and advertising that just cannot be handled any earlier. What happens Tuesday night or Wednesdays cannot be written up on Tuesdays. But many things can be written uri as well Friday or Saturday as any day the next week. Cumnock Mine Filled The Second Time High water in Deep River again overflowed into the Cumnock mine, filling it to the brim; and all the pumping done the past five months in an attempt to clear the mine of water is lost. The management of the? Coal Glen mine in this county had just taken the Lee county mine in charge before the fall flood ' emptied tens of thousands of barrels of water into the mine. As the Coal Glen people had already a sufficiency of their own troubles, this second ; overflow seems a serious blow to the ! persevering company. But the re | markable thing is that the company should let the second flood come without having erected a water barrier about the mouth of the mine. 1 A. S. Fields Dead —— Mr. A. S. Fields, an aged citizen ! of Siler City, died last Friday after > an illness of two weeks, though he ; had not been in good health for sev , eral months. l Mr. Fields is survived by his wife ; and eight children, among whom is 5 Dr. R. M. Fields of Goldston. Funeral - services were held at the Siler City Baptist church Sunday. : An idle brSin is the advance a gent of a busy tongue. COUNTY-WIDE P.-T. A. MEETINGON MARCH 9 An Excellent Program Ar ranged for Meeting of Pa rent-Teacher Groups of County at Pittsboro Satur day, March 9 There is to be a meeting of all the Parent-Teacher groups of Chat ham county at the school building in Pittsboro Saturday, March 9. The following program indicates that the meeting is to have numerous valua ble features, and the officials of the county-wide organization hope that the attendance will be large. Program 10:00 Devotional by Rev. R. G. Shannonhouse. 10:10 Welcome Address by W. R. Thompson. 10:15 Underlying Principles of P.-T. A. Movement by Mr. W. H. Livers, N. C. C. W., Greensboro. 10:45 What the P.-T. A. Means to a School by J. S. Waters. 10:55 P.-T. A. Song. 11:00 Determining Your Plan of Work, by Mrs. W. W. Martin, N. C. C. W., Greensboro. 11:30 Social Side of P.-T. A. Ac tivities, by Mrs. J. S. Cox, Raleigh. 11:45 Relation of School and Home by Mrs. Burke Hobgood, Dis trict President, Durham. 12:00 Finance and Budget Mak ing, by Mrs. L. C. Oldham, Durham. 12:15 Duties of Officers and Com mittees, by Dr. W. H. Livers, N. C. C. W., Greensboro. 12:30 Relation of Local, State and National Units, by Mrs. W. W. Mar tin, N. C. C. W. 12:45 Round Table discussion. 1:00 Lunch served by Pittsboro P.-T. A. O CHATHAM COUNTY PASTURES AND PASTURE PRODUCTION It is very significant to note that the Condensary people who are being petitioned by the Mebane Chamber of Commerce and other organizations to locate their condensary at Mebane, have announced to the farmers and business men of that section that they must first guarantee that suf ficient prepared pastures to carry the number of cows isfipi>l#ffi£ milk to the condensary must first be seeded be fore they will agree to locate a con densary there. In other words, they are not anxious to locate a milk con densary at Mebane, and then have it fail due to failure to secure an ade quate supply of milk, which in turn would in a large measure be due to failure of the native pasture. It hhs often seemed to us that any livestock program that does not make allowance for adequate prepared pas tures is a lot like putting the buggy ahead of the horse. Good pastures are the foundation of all forms of livestock farming, and without pas tures, livestock is not profitable. Farmers in this county are becoming awakened to the possibilities and necessity of prepared pastures, but there yet remains considerable work to be done before we can say that we have iqade a good beginning jwith pasture work. During the winter of 1926, twelve pasture demonstrations were seeded in this county. In spite of the fact that an unusually dry spring prevailed that year, practically all of these demonstrations succeed ed, and are showing their owners a profit at the present time. These pasture mixtures consisted of orchard grass, alsike clover, lespedeza, red top, or herds grass, dallis grass and oat grass and in some cases, white Dutch clover. The following pasture mixture may be seeded with success in this county during March: Orchard Grass 8 Pounds Oat Grass 4 Pounds Red Top 3 Pounds Kentucky Blue Grass 2 Pounds Dallis Grass 2 Pounds Alsike Clover 2 Pounds White Dutch Clover 1 Pound Lespedeza 8 Pounds TOTAL 30 Pounds The above pasture mixture may either be seeded alone, with spring oats, or with fall-seeded grain. The seeding may be done with a grain drill, or where the area is too rough for a drill, by hand, and covered with a brush drag. Pastures respond to lime and phosphates more readily than any other crops. Use at least 1000 pounds lime and 300 pounds acid phosphate per acre on land that is to be seeded in pastures. For the information of those farmers who contemplate seeding pastures this spring, we are giving Kerr Scott’s price list below. Mr. Scott is order ing a car load of seed for Alamance county, ; and farmers in this county can co-operate in this shipment: Orchard Grass I6Y2C per lb Oat Grass 15c per lb Red Top I6Y2C per lb Kentucky Blue Grass 31c per lb Dallis Grass 35c per lb Alsike Clover 32 V2C per lb Lespedeza 19c per lb White utch Clover 27c per lb “ATTEND TERRACING SCHOOL AT BONLEE, MARCH 11, 12: SILER CITY, MARSH 13 AND 14.” EX-CHATHAMITE IN FROM WEST Mr. J. A. Mims of New Mexico Visits Mother and Shows Interest in Old Copper Mine. (Sanford Express) Mr. J. A. Mims, who at one time made his home in Sanford, and was connected with the Banking Loan & Trust Company, was in town shaking hands with friends last Friday. Mr. Mims, who has been making his home at Hurley, New Mexico, for the past 1914 years, made a trip to Baltimore and stopped on his return to visit his mother at Corinth. He is engaged in the mercantile business in his adopted state. He has seen much of mining operations in that state. He informed The Express that the mining of copper is a paying bus iness in New Mexico. The ore is now selling at high price. Mr. Mims visited the Clegg old copper mine near Osgood, while here for the pur pose of making an inspection. If there is sufficient ore in the mine he thinks it possible to re-open it and work it at a profit. The old mine was opened and operated ten years ago. The late David Stanback in augurated a movement a few years ago to re-open and work this mine, but for some reason failed to organ ize the company. A NEW ENGLANDER YISITSPITTSBORO But It Was 95 Years Ago and His Diary Makes Interesting Reading—Describes Legisla ture at Raleigh Let’s take a peep at Raleigh and Pittsboro 95 years ago. Mr. L. W. Clark, of Spray, affords us an op portunity of doing so by furnishing to The Greensboro News a section of the diary of Ezra Towne, a young gentleman from Massachusetts, who .had recently graduated at Harvard and was makking a tour through the South. We present below his ac count of his stay in Raleigh and visit to Pittsboro and pass him on to Asheboro. At the foot of the article we are giving also a paragraph from the diary of General Lenoir, found also in Sunday’s Greensboro News, which will explain to the uninformed something of the magnitude ofi the “falling” of the stars in November 1833 which had frightened Chatham folk as related by the visitor. Those of us who recall the earthquake of August, 1888, can imagine the furor the falling of the stars created. From the Diary “ “We took a stage as it passed and rode over bad roads into Ra leigh, where we arrived late in the evening of January 2, 1834. There was not much of interest on the way. We passed through a number of small villages of no importance. When it became dark our driver was at times wary and at others seemed to let his horses go down hill Jehu like. When we came to the Neuse, fearful that the water might have risen, or that something might have disturbed the planks, the driver called upon the passengers to get out of the stage and walk across to ex amine while he drove carefully across. Bridges in the southern county, where streams rise rapidly, and frequently overflow them, have their planks very slightly fastened so if they are swept away the frame is saved. “Raleigh is regularly laid out but built very scattering. The houses are tolerably good. There are some fine situations in the immediate neighborhood which are arranged and fitted up in good taste. There are quite a number of stores in the village which appear to do consid erable business. There is: a state house building of stone (which is found in the vicinity) which will be a handsome building. It is sit uated in a square of a number of acres, part of which is covered with trees. About one-half mile south or at the extremity of the main street is the “Palace” (as they term it) or governor’s house (where the leg islature now sits), and which is a pretty good looking building. “The legislature is composed of a rather rough looking set of men and unintelligent, the most of whom look as though they liked whiskey better than legislating—they are a pretty jolly set of men and fond of talking. “A considerable number boarded at the house where we were, and a good many of them, with some others, used to come into our room to talk and hear us sing, of which they ap peared to be quite fond. They re ceive three dollars per day for legis lating but one member said the most of them had to borrow money to get home—as they spent more than their receipts, though they get board ed for $lO a month. “Many members keep their brandy and whiskey bottles in their rooms, and visit each other and their bot tles pretty often. “The weather has been cold—a couple of inches of snow and sleet fell a day or two after our arrival, which remains at the time of our leaving. As you pass by the rooms of members, nothing is more common than to see a high fire in their rooms, PLEASE TURN TO PAGE EIGHT Subscribers at Every Postoffice and All R. F. D. Routes in Great County of Chatham VOLUME 51. NUMBER 25 SLOW PROGRESS FINDING WATER Well for Town Water Supply Down Four Hundred Feet, Bub No Sufficient Flow Found The town of Pittsboro voted bonds for a municipal water supply nearly a year ago, and for months a/ driller has been attempting to bore a well to a depth that would secure a suf ficient flow. The first site, selected by a state geologist, was abandoned as hopeless months ago. The slant of the rock, it is reported, was such as to make it practically impossible to keep the well straight down. After abandoning that site, the town commissioners chose a site in West Pittsboro, where better prog ress was made. But the work has * been slow enough at that point. However, the drillers have carried the well down about 400 feet. On one level a flow of 15 gallons a min ute was found, but that was insuf ficient. The prospects are little, if any, better for finding a sufficient flow. The geologist recommended going 450 and abandoning the site if water was not found at that depth. But it is probable that it will be carried even deeper than the 450 feet, if water is not found at that depth, as the fear would exist that it might be just a few feet deeper. The contract price for the well is $7.50 a foot. The drillers lost their work at the earlier chosen site, but if the well at the present site is abandoned because of inability to find water, the drillers are to have pay for every foot of the depth. Thus the town stands the risk of losing $3,000 or $4,000. The bonds have not yet been sold, it being decided that the sale should be delayed till a sufficient supply of water should be found. Amid Splendor Monday Hoover Is Inaugurated A quiet, solemn figure in the midst of elaborate ceremony, standing with bared head in a cold, drizzling rain, Herbert Hoover at noon Monday took the oath as president of the United States. Standing on the platform with him were President Coolidge, cabinet members and supreme court justices. Chief Justice Taft admin istered the oath. The inaugural ceremonies began with the swearing of Senator Charles Curtis of Kansas' as vice president. This was followed in a few minutes by the big event of the day. There had been much comment as to whether Quaker Hoover would “swear” or “affirm.” Mr. Taft re pealed the formal oaht beginning “I do solmenly swear,” and Mr. Hooyer in a clear firm voice respond ed “I do.” Those two words made him president of the United States. The splendor of the inaugural stene and the mammoth parade which followed it was not dimmed by the rain. Thousands stood for Jiours in the cold drizzle and the celebration continued far into the night. In his inaugural address President Hoover dedicated himself and his administration to two major objec tives—law enforcement at home and the promotion of peace throughout the world. He paid particular at tention to the eighteenth amendment, and declared that there would be little traffic in liquor if only crim inals patronized it. He promised im mediate transfer of a large part of enforcement activities from the treasury to the justice departments, and re-iterated his purpose to name a commission to study prohibition enforcement. Seventieth Congress Goes Out Peacefully The 70th Congress ended its ses sion quietly at noon Monday after writing a record as colorful as that of any of its recent predecessors. It enacted the bill to control the turbulent waters of the Mississippi river system; greatly expanded the nation’s naval forces; paved the way for harnessing for man’s use the mighty Colorado river; and placed upon the statute books a new act to materially increase penalties for vio lation of the prohibition laws. In addition, the senate ratified the Kellogg treaty to have war renounced as a national policy by the nations of the world. The Congress, however, left as a legacy to its successor the vexing problems of farm relief and tariff revision but it did take steps to en able early consideration of both these questions at a special session of the new Congress to be convened some time next month. <*> The Cooper Sale The sale of the W. A. Cooper property advertised for last Friday ; at the home place between Pittsboro , and Bynum turned out well. Mr. ■ Tave Cooper bought the little home ; place for $2,000, and Mr. Lon Cooper the Meacham place for SI,OOO. The personal property was also disposed of at fair prices.