North Carolina Newspapers

WEATHER Slightly cloudy, with occasional light raim. SPhe (Ttuuui GOOD AFTERNOON Talarision probably mMu a lot of tbo radio >tar« ikoald bo board bat not sooo. Largest Daily Circulation of Any Newspaper in North Carolina in Proportion to Population VOL. 57—No. 311 HENDERSONVILLE, N. C., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1938 k SINGLE COPIES, FIVE CENTS V Dana School Construction Work Started New Agriculture Building Also Approved for Flat Rock, Harris Reports OTHER LOCAL WPA PROJECTS PENDING Sponsored jointly by the Hen derson county board of education and the- WPA, work was started Wednesday on the construction of un agriculture building at the I Pana school. The building will be of brick construction and a sing'e story with basement. It will be approxi mately 60x70 feet in size and w!l house four classrooms and two of fices. Heat for the building will be supplied by the school heating , plant. I When completed the structure will cost approximately $13,340. A crew of 30 men is working on the project and about four months will be required to complete the project H. W. Harris, WPA supervisor, >aid that a similar agriculture building project has been approved for the Flat Rock school, and that work is expected to stait there when the Dana building is com pleted. Approval has been given by the Asheville and Raleigh offices for the golt c'ub project and thei Jump-off Mountain recreational park project* and these projects J have been sent to Washington for final approval. Mr. Harris said. Plans for the construction of a swimming pool at the golf club have been sent to the state board of health for approval, Mr. Harris said. Approval by health authori ties is necessary before the WPA can consider the project, he said. The first golf club project, spon sored by the city of Henderson ville, provides for an expenditure of more than $25,000 on clearing. uTading, grubbing, and the con struction of a caddy house and other improvements. The Jump-off project is spon sored bv the town of Laurel Park, and provides for the construction of a number of recreation build ings and facilities at this scenic spot. COUNTY WPA ROLLS CUT BY 50 MEN Works Progress Administration rolls in Henderson county have been reduced by approximately 50 men since December 15, and ap proximately 50 additional workers are expected to be released by January 12, H. W. Harris, WPA supervisor, said today. The reduction here is a part of the reduction of more than 1,000 workers in the Asheville area, com posed of Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood, Mitchell, Madison, and Yancey counties. Persons physically unable to work were the first dismissed from the rolls, since the responsibility for unemployables belongs to the 1 county. Farmers who were referred to the WPA as such will be the nexti to be released from the rolls. The Asheville office lists 320 men ani 140 women as being em ployed on WPA projects at the Present time. Mrs. Stewart Is Dead In Florida Following Crash News of the death earlier this of Mrs. E. C. Stewart, of oartow, Fla., has been received by •rii-nds here. Mrs. Stewart was injured in an j automobile accident several days prior to her death. Sht- was the wife of E. C. Stew art, president of Bonclarken, As Reformed Presbyterian As sembly Grounds, and was widely *n«wn here. Low temperature last night , 29 degrees. THURSDAY Maximum—35 degrees. Minimum—19 degrees. Moan—27 degrees. I'ay'g range—16 degrees. Kainfall—.04 inch. N'ormal mean temperature for December—39.3 degrees. Kainfall to date—2.82 inches. Normal rainfall—5.46 inches. : Reporter Asks For 'Obituary/ Gets 'Deceased' MEDFORD. Mass., Deo. M.— (IP*—Flairs on all municipal buildings were half-staffed ye ter day in memory of former Alder man George If. Lewis 73, who. reporters learned, died of a heart attack shortly after taking his daily wclk. A s tht* Lewis home lias no tele phono. a newspaper in nearby Uoston found it necessary to call his former employer, the Boston Eleveatcd Railway, for material for an obituary. A reporter explained the situa tion to an operator at the rail way's offices and asked to speak to someone who could give him some information about Mr. Lewis. "One moment please." the op erator droned. "I'll connect you with Mr. Lewis." Lewis, it appeared, was visiting old friends at the offices and per sonally informed all interested par ties that he was "greatly surprised to learn of my death." U. S. SPY HUNT ORDER ISSUED Army of 80,000 Directed To Be on Alert for Possible Clues WASHINGTON, Dec. 30. (UP) Elmer Lincoln Irey. the man who . put Al Capone behind jail bars, and who set the trap that caught Bruno Richard Hauptmann, direct ed an a» my of 80,000 government workers today in one of the most extensive spy hunts since the \ World war. Treasury officials declined to discuss details of the newly con ceived espionage drive, but it was learned an order issued to direct ing keads of treasury investigating agencies to be an the alert for spy activities was intended to apply to every employe of the department. Irey's theory is that any treas ury employe might stumble across a spy clue in the course of routine duties. Justice Dealt Atlanta Killer Without Police ATLANTA, Ga., Dec. 30. (UP) Countv law officials today agreed that, without their intervention, j justice had been dealt a murderer. Otis Williams, negro, beat to death his wife with an iron pipe. He fled his home. His body, the head cut off and beside it, was found on a railroad track. "Undoubtedly, Otis fled straight to the railroad tracks to hobo out of town." said Coroner Paul Done hoo. "He must have slipped and fallen as he tried to hop a freight train, and the wheels cut off his head. It was a case of swift jus tice overtaking a murderer." F. J. RICE, POLITICAL | BOSS, SUCCUMBS MEMPHIS, Tenn., Dcc. 80.— , (UP)—The body of Frank J. Rice, credited with building the power- i ful political machine now headed bv Ed Crump, who died in New York City yesterday, will be brought here for funeral services and burial Saturday. Rice, 70 years old, was one of the shrewdest politicians the South ever produced and was the second stalwart of the powerful Shelby county organization to die this year. W. Tyler McLain, who ranked close to Rice as an adviser to Crump, died on July 4. STEALS WATER; FINED YOUNGSTOWN, O., Dec. 30.— (UP)—John Brown went to jail; yesterday to work out a $10 fine and costs for stealing water from a city fire hydrant. He told the judge that his family of five had been without water for three weeks and "we had to have it." ' A West Pointer Engineers WPA A new picture of Colonel F. C. Harrington, who succeeds Har ry Hopkins as VV'PA administra tor. Colonel Harrington is a West Point graduate and an en gineer. BANDITS GET m IN OHIO Three Men Escape After Herding 20 Express Office Employes YOUNGSTOWN, 0., Dec. 30.— (UP>—Three armed men cowed 20 Railway Express Agency em ployes and escaped with $35,000 in currency today. The money had been consigned to the Federal Reserve bank in Cleveland by the Youngstown bank. The robbery was executed with careful precision. The three men walked into the express office, then separated. One corraled of fice workers in a warehouse; the second lined them up against a wall, and the third rounded up truck drivers at the rear of the warehouse. When all had been herded together, the bandits slip ped into the money room, selected the bank's money bag from a heap on the floor, walked out the front door and fled in an automobile. 135 MILLIONS APPORTIONED FOR HIGHWAYS N. C. Will frTlWore Than $3,100,000, Wallace Announces WASHINGTON, Dec. 30. (UP) Secretary of Agriculture Wallace today apportioned $135,000,000 to the states for highway improve ment and grude crossing: elimina tion. With the exception of grade crossing elimination allocations, the states must match federal high way funds. North Carolina got $2,321,357 for trunk highways, $348,204 for secondary roads, and $500,977 for grade crossing eliminations. SHOOTSPLAYMATE BY MISTAKE: TRIES TO END OWN LIFE JACKSON, Miss., Dec. 30. (UP) —Thirteen-year-old J. W. Foone was dead last night and in the next hospital room physicians were afraid to tell his friend, Sonny Wilson, 12, who passed judgment on himself and tried to pay with his own life for young Boone's fa tal accident. Boone was shot late Wednesday near Byram when Sonny handed him a .22-calibre rifle. While Al ice Boone, 13, was running for help, Sonny reloaded the gun, went off a shqrt distance and shot him self under the heart — the same place in which the Boone boy was wounded. Both were taken to the hospital toeether and young Wilson weakly told a physician: "I thought that I had killed him and I wanted to go. too." It seemed last night, physicians said, as if Sonny Wilson would "go." He was sinking rapidly de spite an emergency operation and a blood transfusion. DUCE MAY ASK ANOTHER BIG FOUR' PARLEY Mussolini Would Again Press Italian Terri torial Claims WOULD BASEPLEA ON TREATY OF 1915 | By STEWART BROWN United Pros Staff Correspondent ROME, Dec. 30. (UP)—'In formed diplomats believed t&lay that Premier Benito Muss^ini might ask Prime Minister Neville | Chamberlain of Great Britain to convene the "bit* four" of Munich for a discussion of Italy's terri torial claims if Chamberlain should refuse to serve as media tor between France and Italy. Speculation 011 the possibility of another Munich meeting was reported from Berlin Wednesday, supposedly due to Adolf Hitler's reluctance to step out with forth right support of Italy against : France at this time, and similar rumors had been circulating, in Paris for two or three weeks. 1 Diplomats in Rome said that 1 Mussolini, if he should decide to ask another Anglo-Italo-Franco- j 1 German conference, would base his request on the London treaty j ! of 1915 which brought Italy into j ' the World war on the side of the , Allied powers. He contends that Italy's terri torial aspirations are closely in-, volved with the 1915 treaty since the agreement provided for the "rewards" to be given Italy for her military support of the Al lies. There has been lasting bit terness in Italy because it has been felt that the natior warfAv - treated fairly in the divisioiV of , ! the victors' spoils. . }■ It was reported, however, that | before II Duce suggests any 1 four-power meeting he would ask 1 Chamberlain shortly after the British prime minister arrives in Rome January 11 on an "appease ment mission" to serve as medi ator in the Italo-French tension. CLUB INSTALLS NEff OFFICERS Kiwanians and Wives At tend Dinner Meet; Hear Magicians The Kiwanis club installed new officers at a dinner meeting at the Skyland hotel last night, with a large attendance of members and their wives, and applauded a program of magic presented by Mr. and Mrs. N. P. Patton, of Hendersonville, known profession ally as The Selywns. The installation program fea tured a welcome to guests by Dr. W. R. Kirk, response by Mrs. J. T. Fain, report of the club's ac tivities for the year by Secretary A. F. Barber, presentation of a past president's badge and a handsome gift from the club to retiring President Dr. J. G. Ben nett by F. M. Waters, induction of George M. Flanagan as the i new president by Dr. Bennett, . recognition of other officers by i President Flanagan, and presen tation of committee chairmen by, E. A. Smyth, 3rd, vice president.; C. M. Ogle was program chair- > man. < J. H. Reaben, chairman of the , house and entertainment commit tee, awarded attendance prizes to Mrs. L. A. Blair, Mrs. Albert;} Drake, Mrs. Reaben, Mrs. F. M. , Waters, Mrs. J. G. Bennett and ( Mrs. G. M. Flanagan. In addition, ] 0. B. Crowell was given an elec- ; trie razor for having made the ; highest grade in a "Kiwanis ( Kwiz" conducted at a recent ; meeting of the club. Officers and directors of the ; club for 1938 are: President, « George M. Flanagan; immediate past president, Dr. J. G. Bennett; ji vice president, E. A. Smyth, 3rd; 11 secretary, A. F. Barber; treasur-, - er, Edward Patterson; directors, L. A. Blair, 0. B. Crowell, Dr. j j F. 0. Trotter, Mingus Shipman, j ] Dr. W. B. Wilson. A. H. Houston; 1 and F. V. Hunter. • j < COUNTY SING AT MUD CREEK SUNDAY . I The Henderson County Singing convention will meet at the Mud Creek Baptist church on Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock, it was an nounced today. The public is invited to attend, and all singers are especially in vited. I Suspected in Blackmailing of Coster Disbarred lawyer Walter R. Cragg, above, with Joseph Hran dino and his sister Mary, right, were arrested in New York on charges of blackmailing "F. Donald Coster" while conceal ing his true identity as the swindler Philip Musica. Enrag ed at their arrest, the Brandinos attacked news photographers in the police station. She is pic tured as she threw her purse. Then her brother attempted to throw a cuspidor. DEATH TAKES R. E JUSTICE County Native, Age 70, Leaves Widow and Eigtit Children Robert M. Justice, 70, died sud denly ye~..erday afternoon about 4:30 o'clock at his home on the Shaws Creek road. He had not been ill and death came as he sat in a chair at his home. No funei-al arrangements had been made today pending word from children in Utah. Burial, however, will be at Oakdale ceme tery, and the Rev. B. E. Wall, pastor of the First Baptist :hurch, will be in charge of ser vices. Mr. Justice was a native of this :ounty. He is survived by his sec and wife, Mrs. Fannie Justice, and one son, Monroe, by this union. Seven children by a pre vious marriage survive as follows: Herbert Justice, Mrs. J. W. Mc Crary, and Mrs. John Leather wood, all of Hendersonville, Mrs. Cannie Ledbetter, of Cary. and Mrs. Mike Jankovich, John F. Justice, and Miss Lula Justice, all of Toole, Utah. He is also survived by one sis ter, Mrs. M. M. Hollingsworth, ind one brother, J. B. Justice, both of Hendersonville. Mercury Drops To 32 Below In North Dakota Cold Wave Is Losing Its Force as It Moves Eastward BY UNITED PRESS Winter dealt another severe blow Thursday to midwestern states still 'punch-drunk" from the first on slaught of snow and sub-zero tem jeratures. Temperatures plummeted to a ninimum of 32 below zero at Min >tt, N. D., and Bemidji, Minn., renter of a cold mass of Arctic )orn air moving slowly eastward 'rom the Rockies. Forecaster J. 3. Lloyd said the winter's second :old wave would reach Michigan, llinois, Missouri and Indiana by Friday, but would lose some of its 'orce before striking the eastern states Saturday. Wind and snow flurries turning ;o rain below the Mason-Dixon ine accompanied the advancing vave. Temperatures fell to 14 below it Greenville, Me., 4 above at Al >any, N. Y., and 14 above at Bos ;on as the east received full effect )f the first cold wave .which moved icross the middlewest four days igo. Readings rose slightly in mid :entral states Thursday but the tdvancing cold wave was expected ;o drive temperatures downward tpain by Friday. Lloyd predicted •eadings ranging to 25 below in lorthern Iowa and to 15 below in southern portions of Iowa, next itate in the wave's line of march. Five persons were reported dead ind a sixth was missing as result )f the cold in Ontario, Can. Lou siana reported one death. Pop Tabor Dies In Pen That He Wouldn't Quit JACKSON, Miss., Dec. 30. (UP) Word seeped "outside" today fh.it Tbp"" Tabor Had" diefr an3 Had been buried insidfl the "home" he refused to leave—the state peni tentiary. "Pop" was 95 and was sent to the penitentiary nearly 30 years ago to serve a life sentence for the murder of a daughter-in-law. fie was soon made a trusty and then former Governor Lee Russell pardoned him. "Pop" wandered around out-of-place and disconso late for three months and return ed to beg for his prison uniform. Jail seemed like "home" to him, he said. The oldest prisoner in the peni tentiary refused two other par dons before he died. MRS. METCALF, PENROSE, DIES Death Follows That of Husband by Only Four Days Mrs. Alfred Metcalf, 80, of Penrose, Transylvania county, died last night at midnight at Ly day Memorial hospital, Brevard, after an illness of about 10 days. Her death came only four days after the death of her husband on Monday. Funeral services will be held at the Little River Baptist church on Saturday morning at 11 o'clock, and burial will follow in the family cemetery nearby. Rev. Sherman Patterson, pastor, will be in charge of the services. Prior to marriage, Mrs. Met calf was Mrs. Sallie McCall Wil-j son. She is survived by one sis-> ter, Mrs. T. L. Pickelsimer, of Penrose, and a number of nieces and nephews. Gotham Faces New Year's Eve Sans Taxi cabs , NEW YORK, Dec. 30. (UP)— A New Year's Eve without taxi cab service impended today after more than 4,500 night cab drivers, members of the Transport Work ers' union, voted to authorize a strike against fleet owners' refus al to renew contract neeotiations. After night drivers authorized a strike early yesterday day drivers met last night and voted to concur in the authorization. Present contracts with the union,1 an affiliate of the Congress of In dustrial Organization, expire at midnight Saturday. HARVARD MAN HONORED RICHMOND, Dec. 30. (UP) — Professor Walter Bradford Can non, 67, Harvard University phy siologist, today was elected presi-, dent of the American Association' for the Advancement of Science, ■ which embraces 166 leading Amer ican scientific societies. SNOW HELD IN SWINDLE Alleged "Finger Man1' of . Coster Blackmailing Included NEW YORK, Dec. 30. (UP)— Two more persons charged, with blackmailing F. Donald Coster, swindler drug magnate who ac tually was Philip Musica, ex-con vict, were arrested last night by post office inspectors and police, bringing to five the total so far seized on orders of Gregory P. Noonan, acting U. S. attorney. One of those arrested under the extortion section of the Lindbergh Act was said by federal authori ties to have been the "finger man" for the entire gang. He was Michael Petrillo, 41, of Brooklyn, and was alleged to have pointed out to the others who had been arrested for blackmail in threat ening Coster with exposure of his past. The other person, seized later last night, was Joseph Parascan- i dola, 57, of Brooklyn, represented I as having been a minor figure of the group. Petrillo was described as a for-| mer partner in the Adelphi Drugj Co. He was said to have entered the firm after Coster left it to be gin his amazing rise to eminence in the drug field through mergers which made McKesson & Robbins the world's third largest drug firm. Although federal agents have said that at least eight persons blackmailed Coster, threatening him with exposure of his past, so far only three others in addition to Petrillo have been arrested. Petrillo, like them, is to be charged with extortion under a section of the Lindbergh Act which gives the federal govern ment jurisdiction over blackmail cases in which the mails are used. He will be arraigned today before a U. S. commissioner. The others arrested were Wal ter Cragg, disbarred lawyer and ex-convict, and Joseph and Mary Brandino, brother and sister. They were seized upon information giv en by Benjamin Simon, also under arrest, who said he acted a3 go between for Coster in making pay ments to the blackmailers. Federal investigation of the case is to be pushed further Tues day when a special sitting on the grand jury will be empowered to hear all phases of the McKesson & Robbins case. First order of busi ness for the grand jury is to be testimony by representatives of {Continued on page three) Wife Of Rich Oil Man Plunges 35 Floors To Death NEW YORK, Dec. 3(f. (UP)— Eluding: the watchful eyes of her norse for an instant, Mrs. Miriam Marve Reiber, 55, wife of Torkild Reiber, multi-millionaire chairman of the boards of The Texas Co., and the Texas Corp., plunged to death today from a window of her luxurious 35th floor apartment overlooking Central Park. Mrs. Reiber had been suffering from a nervous ailment for two months. WARDOGS OF TWO NATIONS STANDING BY One-Sided Battle Waged Beneath Heavy Gum of Fortress INSURGENTSHELLS FALL IN VILLAGE ! HENDAYE, Dec. 80.—(UP)— Spanish nationalists troops, fight ing In a temperature of 18 de grees above zero, today stormed and- captured Collada Heights, north of Montaech, to cut the im portant Artesa-Benavent highway. Five hundred loyalist prisoners were captured, the communities asserted A loyalist communique issued at Barcelona asserted that republican troops in a suomr counter-attack had recaptured Vertices Abates in the sector further south. GIBRALTAR, Dec. 80. (UP)— British and French warships guarded Spanish loyalist destroy er Jose Luis Diez today as it lay grounded at Gibraltar. Beside t lay the nationalist destroyer Ju piter, whjch it. rammed .when crippled "from gunfire from seven insurgent warships. Three British subjects were wounded . by na tionalists shells which struck the village of Catalan Bay during the fight Guns of the great rock, the impregnable British fortress, fired blank shots as warnings and full gun crews stood by ready to fire shells if * necessary. . The battle occurred beneath the heavy guns of Britain's fort- „ rear hettv whteh ' fired several bl»nk shot*-to wanttag insurgent. warship- entered British territorial waters during the en gagement. Tha entire British gar rison waa called to posts. Several insurgent shells fell in the British village of Catalan Bay, wounding three British citizens and damaging the breakwater and several cottages. One insurgent shell struck the forecastle of the Jose Luis Diez killing four members of the crew and wounding 11. The Diet lan-1 ed two men killed by splinters and several of her wounded. Two British and one French destroyers rushed to the scene of the battle and when the Die* grounded near Catalan Bay, in British territory, took u-> positions nearby and began rescue opera tions by the light «f searchlights. The Diez did not appear to be damaged seriously. The British and French de stroyers did not allow the insur gent warships, watchfully cruis ing about four miles off shore, to approach the Diez. According to one of the wound ed landed from the Diez, most of his ship's casualties were due to explosion of a machine gun while it waa firing at an insurgent ship. The Diez, which had been awaiting an opportunity to re join other loyalist warships at Almeria or Valencia, made her dash at 1 a. m. in darkness but was unable to escape the watch ing insurgent warships which had been cruisin®' off the bay since before Christmas. All of Gibraltar reverberated with the roar of the guns and res idents flocked to vantage points from which thev watched the flashes. The Jose Luis Diez, of 2,087 tons displacement with full load, was built 10 years ago at Car tagena. Insurgent authorities re cently protested without avail, ier refitting and repair In a French port. INSURGENTS CLAIM CAPTURE OF "LINE" HENDAYE, Franco - Spanish Frontier, Dec. 80. (UP)—Insur gent headquarters last night :laijned the complete capture of the government's "little Maginot line" along the Sejrre river neor Balaguer, where Gen. Francisco Franco's crack mercenary force* smashed through four lines of steel and concrete fortifications. Franco's Saragossa base an nounced that the B*l*gner bridge head on the Segre had collapsed, that the enemy's system of «un ken forts had fallen and that the insurgents were driving the loy ilists in retreat toward the Med iterranean coast FIVE ARE KILLED IN MADRID BOMBING MADRID, Dec. 30. (UP)—In surgent siege guns in the snow covered Guadarrama hills late yesterday bombarded the south western section of Madrid with heavy explosives which killed five persons and wounded others. Loyalist guns opened up in an Bwer to the siege and the city re sounded to the tfeunder of the shelling for move than an hour.