A paper with a Prestige
f , Half Century. A
County, Not a Com-
m unity Peper
ESTABLISHED SEPTEMBER 19, 1878.
Side Dresss j
Cotton with
Nitrate Nowj
i
Experiments Prove That Side
pressing of Cotton or Corn
w ith Soda Means an In
creased Yield of $3 to $5
f a r Every Dollar Spent for
Soda
!
is no agricultural fact
-, t -rvr established than that side
7re-in£ cotton with nitrate of soda
.'!* profitable, and right now is the
it should be done.
s uc h a fact as the following
should prompt Chatham county i
♦Virers to prompt action: Experi
‘^n:> conducted by 1080 farmers
•■ndicate that an average of 205
‘ oun d< of soda per acre, applied as
. top dressing, netted these farmers,
VYhr average, 237 pounds of lint
,*:on per acre above what they
received on cotton that had no top
dressing.
It is also found by numerous and
painstaking experiments that the
• 0^: time to apply the side-dressing
» after the cotton has been plowed
■ n( j chopped one time. However,
Moss, a large cotton farmer,
i a vs that it may be applied profit
able any time before the first blos
,om appears. But another authority
sa v« it must be applied to produce
adequate results before the appear
ance of the first squares.
Note that 2337 pounds of cotton
to the acre is above the country’s
average yield. Then, if the applica
tion of nitrate means a double of
yield, Chatham county farmers can
not afford to neglect its use, and
promptly. Cotton is already re-
Urded in the county, because of
difficulty in getting it up and the.
cold weather. Soda applied imme
diately would cause it to make up
part of the time lost.
It has been estimated that the |
cost of producing cotton with j
production from ISO "to " ! 220 pounds"!
to the acre, the cost is 17 cents
a pound. At 500 pounds of lint to I
the acre, the cost of production is j
estimated at 10 cents a pound.
Note that 220 pounds at a eost
of 17 cents means a cost of $37.40
an acre, while 500 pounds at 10
cents makes a cost of 50 per acre.
Now. cost, as some of farmers do
not understand, includes tail* wages
for labor, includes taxes, interest
investment, etc. All those things ,
are virtually the same whether
he makes 200 pounds of lint to
the acre or 500 pounds. Accordingly,
the extra 13 dollars of cost goes
largely to fertilizer and to extra j
picking.
$5.00 an acre for soda now,
then, should render a large profic,
and it has been estimated that it
means a gain of $3 to $5 for every
dollars put into the soda. Then,
why not pocket the extra money
next fall? However, if the farmer
is to allowed the weevil to destroy
his crop, it would be better not
to plant at all. Accordingly, the
wise course is to apply soda and
be up and doing in prevention of
the boll weevil menace. The mos-,
iasses mixture applied right away
and followed a few times will prob
ably mean the difference in _ a
crop and n 0 crop. This preventive
is cheap. Get the formula from
county agent Shiver at once.
Nitrates for Cora
An authority says that in _ 253
tests last year an average applica
tion of 197 pounds of soda to the
acre as a side-dressing Increased
the average yield 17% bushels to
| the acre, making a cash return of
$3.38 for every dollar put in nitrate
of soda.
Side-dressing, says the same au
thority, should be applied when the
corn *is knee-high to waist-high.
However, he says to apply the dress
ing when the corn is 45 days old
whether it has reached knee-high
or not.
These facts should appeal to Chat
ham farmers. Yet the time should
shortly come when Chatham farmers
•'hall not have to buy lostly nitrates
to produce big yields. Lespedeza and
other clovers, * soy beans, vetch,
kudzu, etc., should yield the nitrogen
that now costs so dearly. In the
meantime, however, there is no
••se in tending an acre of corn
or cotton for nothing if $5 worth
of soda will mean a profit.
®
nelson smith dead
Mr. Nelson Smith, of the Har
per's Cross' Roads community,' died
Monday morning, after an illness
of several months with • Bright’s
disease. He is ■'reported to have
Deen In his sixties.
He leaves a widow, who was a
*H-' S IScott, and three children;
* Vlrs Felton Smith, Earl Smith,
employed by the Southern. Railway
Company, and Toy Smith, at home.
‘He burial is presumed to have
jeer * in the family burial ground
° n Tuesday.
Chatham Record
> v
| Devils Tramping
Ground Strange
i
Strange Circular Area in
Southeastern Part of Chat
ham County Has Never
Been Satisfactorily Ex
plained; It is a Puzzle to
Visitors
The editor of the Record has for
some time conltempHafced visiting
the “Devil’s Tramping Ground”,
i located in the south-western part of
the county, and writing a descrip
tion of it for the paper. But in lieu
of a visit and original w*rite-up, we
give our readers the following des
cription recently furnished a state
paper by S. B. Dekle. One glance
would determine whether it is the
sandhill wiregrass, for that is an
oid acquaintance. If it is wiregrass,
is was almost assuredly set out
there, for there seems to be no
other way of propagating wiregrass.
Indeed, the grass is a curiosity any
how. We recall no place where it
has ever retaken hold once destroyed.
It grows from a mass of turn
stump-like to a plow, and there
seems to have been no new seeding
or settings in its habitates since the
[year one of its occupancy of the
land. But here is what is told of
the Chatham curiosity:
Bonlee, May 17.—1 n the south
eastern part of Chatham county,
near Harpers Cross Roads, is a per
culiar circular area known as “The
Devil’s Tramping Ground.” For more
than a hundred years, and how
much longer no one apparently
known, this spot has not materially
changed in appearance. Hundreds
visit it each year, legends and myths
have grown around it, and even to
day its origin appears not to have
been satisfactorily explained al
though there are many attempted
solutions.
There is a story .current of how
coon and possum hunters and their
dogs have Deep on more than one
occasion chased from the vicinity
!of the “Devil’s Tramping Ground.”
[by a ferocious beast said to resemble
a black bear.
( Negroes, in particular, are said to
jbe wry of the spot, • especially at
I night. In fact, several of the white
residents admitted that they, them
selves, preferred not to be caught
after dark near the place.
In appearance, the “Devil’s Tramp
ing Ground” is a circular area 40
feet in diameter. The declivity or
path representing the rim is several
inchs lower than the circle proper.
A strip covering approximately six
feet of the outer edge ic covered in
“sandhill” wire grass. A blind path
closes the circle near the center and
I leads to an old pine tree some 40
steps into the woods, where it ends
abrutly.
Just outside the circle there are
oak shrubs, “Black Jack” oaks, small
stplings and a number of other
growing things, yet within the
circle nothing appears _to grow ex
cept the strip of wire grass. The
grass is unlike that growing close
by on the outside of. the circle.
One of the most perculiar fea
tures about the “Devil’s Tramping
STARTS ON PAGE SIX
<§>-
COL. PERSON DIES FROM
STROKE OF PARALYSIS
Colonel Willie M. Person, well
known lawyer of Raleigh and Louis
burg, died Saturday morning in a
Washington, D. C., hospital from a
stroke of paralysis several months
ago. Funeral services were held in
Louisburg Sunday.
Col. Person was senator from the
sixth senatorial district in the last
legislature. He was also a member
of the senate in the legislature in
1917.
He was one of the three who,
after being allowed $5,000 each
for throwing the tobacco coopera
tive association into bankruptev,
filed claims for $25,000 each addi
tional for services in connection
with bringing on the receivership.
The second claim was disallowed.
Col. Person failed in his attempt to
bring about a receivership of the
Cotton Growers Cooperative As
sociation.
BOBBY JONES WINS
BRITISH AMATEUR
Playing before a tremendous gal
lery of some 15,000 at St. Andrews,
Scotland, Saturday, Bobby Jones,
the stalwart Atlantan, won the one
championship of importance which
previously had defeated him, winn
-1 ing the ,; British amateur crown by
• defeating • Roger Wethered, former
: r'title holder, onb-sided 36-hole
final match, 7up and 6 bo play.
» Jones won the British open cham
; pionship in 1926 and 1927, and the
, United States open in 1923, 1926
’ and 1929, and the United States
• amateur in 1924, 1925, 1927, and
i 1928. He will compete for the
l, British open again at Hoylake, June
10.
PITTSBORO, N. C., CHATHAM COUNTY, THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1930
|
ETERNAL VIGILANCE
THE PRICE OE SAFETY
Gets A Rise From
Deswey Dorsett
—® —
The little item w*e printed last
week from the Monroe Enquirer,
in which Dewey Dorsett was said to
have allowed a claim for compen
sation to a factory worker who cut
his hand while cutting off a quid
of chawing tobacco, got a rise from
our friend Dewey , Dorsett, who
sends us the record in the case and
says that a reading of the record
will show that “our Monroe man
didn’t know the facts when he wrote
his little article.” Mr. Dorsett adds
that the “full commission has just
said that I was right in my opinion”.
We believe that the official
statement of the case will interest
readers of the Record, as it shows
what fine points the members of the
compensation board have to settle.
—•
“STATEMENT OF THE CASE”
“The defendants deny liability in
this case. They contend that dis
ability suffered by the plaintiff was
not the result of an accident that
arose out of and in the course of
his employment with the Thomas
ville Chair Company. On or about
September 9, 1929 the plaintiff
testifies that he stuck the point
of his knife in his right thumb
when he was cutting a chew of
tobacco. He testifies that it was a
very small place that he cut, that
he went to the first aid station
maintained by his employer and
painted the cut place and continued
to work. Some few days afterwards
the plaintiff began to suffer right
much pain in his thumb. The kind
of work he was employed to do
needed the use of his thumb in
clamping certain furniture in forms
provided by the employer. In this
work it was necessary to put right
much pressure on the thumb and
because of this the thumb that
had been injured by the knife cut
became so aggravated that it was
necessary to see a doctor and have
an operation performed on the
thumb. From all the evidence the
Commissioner makes the following
finding facts.”
Then follows the finding of facts
and the award, granted on the
ground that the factory work ag
gravated a “previously existing con
dition”
Evidently, Dewey had the law
on his side.
— v •
G. L. Nisbet Resigns
From News-Messenger
Hamlet, . May 29. —The News-Mes
senger carried the following an
nouncement:
G. L. Nisbet, who has been con
nected with The News-Messenger
for several years as editor has re
signed and left for Fuquay Springs
where he will manage and edit
The Courier-Journal. The Courier-
Journal is an old paper, having been
published at Apex. A new company
was formed composed of Stacey
Brewer, G. L. Nisbet and some
Raleigh business men to finance
the enterprise. It was a better loca
. tion and for that reason the paper
Was moved last week from Apex
to Fuquay Springs.
Mr. Nisbet while here has been
i a great believer and boaster for
Hamlet and art active worker in the
Kiwanis club and church. He is
well liked by , the people of this
> community' and'at is!'regretted that
he saw fit’ to make a change. His
wife, here for a few months, made
. many friends. The publishers of
. The News-Messenger wish-'him-every
l success in his new venture.
; The work formerly 5 done by Mr.
i Nisbet will be handled by the pres
> ent personnel, with J.j Neal Cadieu
i having charge of thle writing. There
will be no other changes at present.
County Court in
Session Monday
Recorder’s court was in session
Monday. Only cases of minor in
terest were tried.
Elmer Perry .was convicted of
possessing apparatus for manufac
turing booze. He appealed to Su
perior Court. Bond was fixed at
SSOO.
Bonnie J. Burke, guilty of aban
donment. Judgment continued for
two years upon payment of costs,
$25 doctor’s bill, and his wife $lO
a month for two years; to appear
first Monday in June, 1931, and
1932 to show that he has compiled
with terms.
Gurnie Cox pleads guilty to reck
less driving. Costs and bonds for
good behavior.
Handy Perry, assault, carrying
concealed weapon, driving reckless
ly. SSO and costs.
Baron Gunter, guilty of posses
sing liquor on highway for sale, SSO
and costs. For transporting liquor,
suspended sentence of four months
on roads.
Willie Cox and Pat Ferguson,
guilty of having homebrew for pur
pose of sale. Costs and suspended
sentence on roads.
Tavlor Williams and Marvin Page,
A. W. D. W.; $lO each and costs.
—— <§>
Zeb Harrington Goes
With N. Y. Giants
. —® —
Chatham has, it is hoped, a big
baseball man in the making. Zeb
Harrington, son of Mr. A. F. Har
rington and a nephew of Mr. Will
Harrington, candidate for the House
of Representatives, is the young
ster. He has been a student at
Elon College and would have
graduated this year if it had not
been that he lost several months
a year or two ago because of a
broken leg. As it is, he lacks a
few months, and this fact is keep
ing him from swinging into full
membership right now with the New
York Giants. Anyway, he has the
contract with them, and was called j
Saturday to New York to join the
team for two months. After he has
completed his college work, he will
become a full-fledged member of
the Giants club. We believe that
the college rules, would prevent his
playing next " year at Elon if he
should become a full-fledged pro
fessional this summer.
Mr. Harrington played short-stop
at Elon. He is about 22 years of
age.
WOMAN’S CLUB NEWS
Quite a number of ladies attend
ed the cooking school given by the
Womans Club room last week by
the Carolina Power & Light Com
pany. Mrs. West, who gives classes
all over the country, was in charge.
She was very thorough and made
the routine of cooking seem more
1 of a pleasure than a drudge. She
served us delicious cake and butter
.scotch biscuits which she made at
this time. We were very much
pleased to get .several new receipts.
Two prizes were given to the
persons lucky enouglu to have their
! names drawn. The first, an electric
> egg boiler, went to Mrs. E. A. Far
> rell, and the second, a cake cooked
> and iced in the shape and color
* of a watermelon, went to Mrs.
! Rufus Farrell.
■ 1 § — rr* -
; SCOTCH POME
. : jtle %would- not ride the bus
Because it cost a dime
i To save the coin he chose to walk
> He’d rather spertd his time.
, , —The Pathfinder.
Paying Teachers On
Production Basis
There is scarcely another proses- j
sion in the world that receives pay
upon the basis upon which the
teachers of America receive theirs.
No stenographer, no bookkeeper, no
physican, no reporter, no mechanic,
no superintendent of big business,
nobody else except a teacher, can
expect to have his salary or wages
based upon the number of units of
preparation plus number of years
of experience. The business man
doesn’t give a whoopee for that kind
of qualification. He pays for re
sults, and the fellow that doesn’t
produce the desired results gets
the boot in short order.
On the contrary, North Carolina
teachers, not to go further from
home, are paid upon a preparation
basis, regardless of the natural
aptitudes of the applicant, regard
less of energy and initiative put
into the work. The consequence is
that often a real teacher, one pro
ducing worth-while results, is draw
ing less salary than another who
simply has more units of preparation
to her credit but has no more
aptitude for teaching than a hound
dog has for setting birds. ,
Even a graduate of an agricul
tural college will find his reward
determined by the success he makes
in actual farming. His four years
in college will not make him secure
higher income from a given acreage
than his neighbor without college
training, unless he has actually
digested the knowledge offered him
at school and has the energy and
application to produce results. Com
mon sense would suggest that the
teachers be placed upon the same
basis, and this the more because
of the eternal value of the com
modity she deals in youth. Accord
ingly, it is gratifying to read from
the New* York Times of an experi
ment in common-sense payipent of
teachers. The article is worthy of
the consideration of every tax-payer
and of every parent. It gets results
and saves money. Here it is:
“Paying the teacher for what
the student actually learns is a
contribution to efficiency engineer
ing just being tried out in Mont
gomery County, Va. Pupils receiving
tests at the beginning and end of
the year, and the classes which
have learned the most entitle their
instructors to a S2OO bonus. So lift*
the results are reported as success
ful, and would seem to point to a
solution of the eternally vexed
question of how to pay teachers
according to value received.
Those who think in statistics
will be interested to know that un
der this plan 25 per cent fewer
teachers have given 13 per cent
i more pupils one and one-half times
as much knowledge as under the
old system. Meanwhile, the average
teacher’s salary has substantially
increased, w*hile the total salary
cost was decreased.
Another feature of the plan gives
the teacher 10 cents a day—in
addition to his salary—for every
child present. Miraculously, John
and Susan have responded by show
ing their shining morning faces
far more regularly than in any
previous year.
The only shadow of doubt is
cast upon this panacea by the i**o
gressive educator who suggests that
j all education is not knowledge of
facts and that greater real gain
may be made by the child- who
during the year has required an
independent habit of thought.
Perhaps, after all, some improve
ment remains to be made upon this
educational C. O. D. method.”
®
Mrs. Moffitt Passes
Mrs. Moffitt, the previously only
surviving aunt of Mrs. Henry A.
London and Miss Carrie Jackson,
dide Sunday at the home of her
son in Richmon, at an age exceed
ing ninety years.
Mrs. Moffitt was a daughter of
former Governor Jonathan Worth.
She was married three times, her
firs,t husband being a Jackson and
at the time of the marriage a tea
cher at the University. Later he
became a lawyer at Asheboro. He
having died, Mrs. Jackson married
a second time and that husband
dying, she married Mr. Eli Moffitt,
who was an uncle of Mr. W. A.
Moffitt of the Bennett section.
Her only surviving child is a son
of her first husband and is Herbert
Jackson of Richmond, Va., with
whom his mother lived many years
I at Raleigh and later at Richmond.
Mrs. Moffitt w*as the organizer
!of the Woman’s Club of Raleigh
1 and in many ways was active in
' public service. Her last distinctive
service was leading in the erection
i of a monument in Richmond to
Commodore Matthew Maury, the
great navigator and geographer.
The burial was in Oakwood Ceme
tery, Raleigh, Monday.
The illness of Mrs. London did
not permit h«»r to attend. How
ever, her' sister Miss Carrie Jack
son attended the funeral, returning
Tuesday afternoon.
Mrs. Moffitt was a great lonian.
She spent her personality and her
fortune freely in behalf of human
: ity. Yet, despite the activity of
her whole life, she lived to be over
. ninety.
Subscribers at Every
Postoffice and All IL
F. D. Routes in Great
County of Che then.
VOLUME 52—NUMBER 34
'Farmers’ Mutual
Insurance Asso.
Organized 31st
N. J. Dark, President; E. L.
Vestal, Vice President; F.E.
Womble, Secretary - Treas*
|
urer—Chatham, Lee, Moore
Compose District
In accordance with the call pub
linshed last week in the Chatham
Record, a group of farmers met at
the Hickory Mountain school house
Saturday at 1 o’clock and organized
the Chatham-Lee-Moore branch of
the State Farmers’ Mutual Insurance
Association.
Mr. T. B. Parker, president,
was present and showed what the
Farmers’ Mutual is doing in the
state and in other states. He esti
mated that through this association
farmers are getting reliable in
surance for half the cost if pur
chased from the old line insurance
companies. It is insurance at virtual
cost,
A five-dollar membership fee per
thousand of insurance is the initial
expense and all the expense of that
kind during whatever term one may
belong to the association. The rate
per thousand of insurance was
fixed at 40 cents. Mr. J. R. Lambert, ■
who has been instrumental in work
ing up business preparatory to the 1
organization, stated that he had
signed up about 125 men, to whom
policies will be delivered immediately
now that the association has been
launched.
At the meeting Saturday, N. J.
Dark was chosen president, E. L.
Vestal vice president, and Floyd E.
Womble secretary-treasurer. The
latter is required to give adequate
bond. Five directors were chosen,
namely, T. B.* Bray, C. F. Fox,
John Fesmire, W. G. Scott, and W.
R. Fox.
The annual meeting is to be held
in December at Sanford. Mr. Lam
bert is now prepared to push the
work of increasing the membership.
Unfortunately, such an organiza
tion has earlier died in the county,
but this one is being launched upon
a safe and sane basis, and should
prove of inestimable benefit to the
armers of Chatham, Lee, and Moore.
The editor of the Record was an
observer of the operation of the
Sampson-Duplin branch for several
years and was convinced that the
association is a fine thing for the
people. He gives the new organiza
tion his heartiest commendation.
®
***************
* *
Chapel News’
***************
“Sin and its great devide to
righteousness” was the theme of
Pastor Dailey’s message last Sunday
afternoon, in which he got on his
high tom-walkers.
(Editoral Note: “Devide” is what
you have; I cannot think what you
meant to have. However, I get the
tom-walker business, though I doubt
if many of the younger folk know
what such things are. They ride
bicycles and in automobiles and
have little time for those old-time
recreations of children.
It gives great pleasure to state
that Mrs. R. H. Lindley seems on
the road to recovery from a long
spell of sickness following a slight
stroke. Her sister-in-law, Mrs.
Bright, who stayed two weeks by
her side, has returned to her home
in upper Chatham.
We were glad to have two of
our boys, Kiah Henderson of
Raleigh, and John Durham of Burl
ington, out with us, also a Mr.
Williams of Hillsboro and Mr. and
Mrs. K. B. Cole of near Bynum,
and other visitors from near-by
who seemed to enjoy Borthe Dailey’s
sermon.
Messrs. W. T. and W. K. Mann
have installed a lighting plant in
their store.
Messrs. J. A. Marshall and G. C.
Perry are making preparation for
selling milk at Durham.
Mr. J. W. Dark thinks his cotton
crop about ruined by hail. Others
aiso suffered damage Thursday.
Mrs. W. C. Henderson got out
to church the first time with little
Minnie Belle.
Mrs. C. H. Lutterloh spent day
with her mother, Mrs. Lizzie Dark,
and was a great cheer and comfort
to her in her illness.
A good many of our people do
not approve of the plan presiding
elders have adopted of having
quarterly meetings on Sunday. *lt
seems they are in a rush with the
world. However, some of us are
expecting to attend the third one
to be held at Moncure next Sunday
afternoon. The church seems to be
almost in a race in some instances.
$ 1 ■
The Lord God will wipe away*
tears from off all faces.—lsaiah.