■;■*!■■ ;V>'>HSU I 1 Wishing You A Happy and Prosperous u-M-ue*? VOLUME 47.'(Number 2*, Did you know that the eldest build ing to be found now S» the business section of Sanfoid'was » b*» room 40 VMM *g«t THs building, * mail woden rtm* tote, is located on Chatham stjreet be? tween the building owned by the heir* of the late W. T. Buchanan and * email brick building owned by Dan «. Lawrence. Party yMM ago and more in and around thasd bar rooni* mbn bought, Hid .drank taw com corn liquor to excess, and raised more un adulterated hell than Carter had oate. Wet and skull fights often took place here and some time revolver were brought to play in the game of lawlessness that went on especially afternoons and nights.. On one oc casion it was Christmas morning—a man came out of this bar room flour ishing a quart of liquor in one hand *nd a cocked pistol ’ in the other and after crossing the street he started a to# which brought on a race riot ivfeich terrorized the town for a day had night. The following morning the sheriff of Moore county came to Sahford arrested 28 negroes and lodged them in jail at Carthage, where they remained .for a period at four months at the expense of the bounty. Those negroes were released Without punishment, They were ttore Binned against than sinning. That race riiot on that beautiful Christmas day was; the thing that put bqr rooms out of Sanford. The late Duncan Evander Mclver, at that time pbd for years afterwards the leading Citizen bf Sanford, drew a bill and cured the passage through the Gen * era! Assembly, the bill providing that, Whiskey should not, be sold within miles of Steele street Methodist Church- That was the best piece of work that McBver did for his town, for when the signs of the bar roojns oema down the steeples of churches Went up. After these came tfce spirit. Not a vote was cast against the establishment of these schools. In many other ways Mclver rendered this town the finest kind of public service. His eloquent voice was ah’ way articulate for the publie good; His picture may he seen in the audi torium of the East Sanford school building. That building, now called the Mclver building, was named ' in honor of this public spirited man, , Senator Crosa- and Representative Jtakepeace have selected their seats hb. the State Capitol so as to be ready When the new. General Assembly meets in January. Makepeace, who is a successful business man, is not without legislative experience*.,aa,hp ha* 'represented his district, in the Senate and his county in the House, and he 'will no doubt be a - valuable member of the House. , Cross, who is a succesfsul real es tate and insurance man, will be serv ing his first term in tha General Assembly, but the people of Lee County expect him to give a good ac count of himself at Raleigh this win ter. Both Makepeace and Cross are pledged to vote for removal of the IS cents tax on land for the support of the six months school teem. Taxes? By George,, Its taxes here, % taxes there and its taxes every where you turn, Your land, if you are so unfortunate as to have any, }i hh the tax books at three times its present value. When yo go down tc the Court Housd you find your larg est items erf taxes go to support S System of county government whfct ha# undergone little change for a cpn tury and which needs to he simpli f!*d and operated in a more owuoml eal and and business like way. Town taxes is also burdensome. The rati is not high but the valuation is all pat of proportion if sompured wit)i thf rea) value of they roperty, Wljeri Si ask for your toam and eeunty es you find that you have a W? ■ able burden on each shoulder. Blit this 1b not all for there is the State and Unrle Bam, both of whojn are son Staply running their hgnds into yopi poskets to get What is left The peopis of Banford new own mure than $1,000,000 in taxes for the year tPM. and years previous to that time to say nothing of the ips$ t*h«s now duo. These taxes simply cannot be paid with 6c cotton, business in bankruptcy Sad buildings which have smalt rental value and in many instances no rental vait>« at aii. .. ' { £■* a ..-.•Mr. lot L. Phillips, of Greensboro, W the guest of hie sister, Miss ftufh Phillips, Sunday and Monday. Mies Emma and Fred Van Sant yreiss hpipe for the holidays. They are students at .Mars Hill (College. Mias Syah Griffin left Thursday for Raleigh 4£. vjsijt .- Miss Mr. and Mrs. -Gordon S. Smith, of thf Cbrtofc lhas holidays with the family of Mr. S. D. Porter and other relatives here, They are accompanied by Mrs. J, Wallace Smith, also of that city. Mr. and Mfs; G. H. Oiiver and dau ghter have returriod from Winston $alem where’they\gpent the Christ mas holidays. Mr. Arthur Boal, of New Yorid visited Mr. and Mrs. El H. Camp dufc> ing the Christmas holidays. He was on his way home from a trip to Florida-, “ i The trouble .cbilcerning the Big Springs school has at last been set tled. The «ch°ol 'ViH "(open, in a few days and continue through the winter and spring a vote of the patrons of; the school it was decided that the Behoof should not be consoli dated with the Greenwood school. W§ — Ms- -F.E. Street, w;ho has for sotne time been located at Elizabeth City as a Eederal Prohibition Agent, la spdjiatng' the Cmfistmas holidays at home-with his family- He expects to. tie transferred td 'WBSlgh in a few days where hp will make headquiar Gurney P. Hood, State Comhile ifoMi « fftpfcMtatot that the ■** of ,118,145.92 has been released to ??>,flO creditors, of closed State banks since October 1st. The list of pay ments t<^ deppritom fojdudes the sum cure, at Moncure, and $7,018.64 ^hy thg Bpnk ■of * Goidyton, at Goldstou. |, Mr. C. 1. Post, who has organised Qof tr^iidiig^ band and or chestra at this place,, has moved his ^family fem jFh>^mde;> s. c„ to Sad ford, where they ‘will make their home,' Mr.,p.ost tell% The Express that £Te expects to have a hand of 24 K trained mid ready to make md* ■t the tbwUndit spring. tit says there is some fine talent in the band. .vk.. TV,„ -■ -M Tourists are now. passing through in large numbers. Many tourists leave their homes in the North immediate ly following thd Christmas holidays and spend the next two or three months at.s/Soptijenw Btaes, Pinehurst or the Geoigfll Sr Wlmidaresorts. I They wi 11 fcorFt inti CyitoVgt?. to these re I sorts till the' laetWi'#}^ winter and ] return late in thewpring. — Mclver, of the Buck f Mr. Joe D. horn section, who was in Sanford Tuesday, informs The Express that Mr. T. A. Ausley, jy killed :t >1,400 pouads.v ' I of the s4fn A' sji Corinth, recent that . weighed Itamey Jeffries, also killed two 1,100 to 1,200 of the s4inevsi that weighed from pounds. Mr. Mclver stated that there |W6re ihaiiy other large hogs’killed in that section, but he did have informa tion giving the weights. Heretofore presents sent through the. mail frp.m. Sanford end Bps sectiofl tof relatiyes and friends a| gdigtaiice weregoods of some kind i bought from the local stores or ship ped in from mail/ prder houses. The lixpuees is itrf^mea thai due to the ||«Prt»slott «hkn> .$»<$>« k „ pther parts of the ' ks Christmas pre rrpitdd on the fate puts and fruit# things were not able f| __ ie things should appreciated as tp# _ ,__ „w„ work wpa W^le «JP W3f '•#“special recopi* mendatlon Was' irfcluded urging that jtrypd b# used yfte>a'tyel in pubjl# Bchopls, local industries and private homes. In checking1 bVer this project |te«* . Wit’ (Jaunty, lt*_Demonstration [Agejit end Welter* Officer E. O. Mft* i Mahan found’that WoUd is being used (V AM St.tte&teflri Ow»t Hou»w til# county Hojnd, all the school Ppildings'of the'county. A thousand mid fifty cord!, wo°d have been purchased from; farmers of the coun ty St tU.OQ par cord. \Tbi#'rneans that tet&W4; for coal as in, previous years. Th# i flitting of this/ wood gave a large number of toppers pgjnlfjytnent and Helped to Support tiiete families ah # Btirily in luai FIRE DESTROYS | BIG DEPARTMENT ! STORE THURSDAY Occurs Here ... At * 9:4? O’clock. BJJlMWtfG IS INSURED Ijfrt ’Proraday nighf just Wore 10 o'clock the fire alarm sent the fire Company to Steele street. The fire was diaoevered in H. .Isaacson’s store by some one passing on the sidewalk. The window shades had been lowered and the fire was discovered by the in tense heat breaking the glass in the front windows. Tbe flames had KW ed much headway in the building and the firemen realizing that they had a serious job on their hands to exten guish the fire, the second truck was ceiled out. Soon Steele and other, streets leading to the scene were crowded with people from alt parts of the town to witness the- confla gration. Volunteer firemen were colled into service for the next hour or two, and the fire- department put up a fight that would have done credit to fire f ightars in a much larger town than Sanford. By their heroic work the firemen kept the fire confined to file one building and saved thousands of dollars to property owners in the business district of the town. It seems that the fire started in the back section of the building and the room was soon full of smoke which prevented the firemen from entering isfpd fighting the flames on the in side. When a section pf file roof fell this gave the firemen an op portunity to turn the Water Into the building from roofs of adjoining buildings, At times it looked as if the fire would reach the adjoining buildings, the United Bank & Trust Company, oh 0nC side, and the Cross Marks building on the other. The fiu?k walls and work of the firemen saved these buildings. The furni ture was moved from the United Bank | Marks building as a precaution. The origin of the fire has not been deter 1 mined. - , | The Stock of goods in Isaacson’S [store apd the furniture and fixtures were destroyed by (flee and water. I Mr, IsaaeSon had soma insurance on I his 3tock, but no insurance on the I furniture and fixtures. He esti mates his loss on the latter at $8,000, Sfr, J. H, Monger, Who ownes the I building, carried some insurance on the property. The total loss is esti mated at something like $30,000. The I waits of file building seem to be in tact, but it is not yet known what the damages are. I_ YULETIDE SEASON QUIET ONE HERE The people of Sanford were back on the job Tuesday jnprning after apenc Ing a merry Christmas in a quiet sort of way, with two full days of rest (from the "daily routine. Fire crackers were hi evidence on Sunday. The email boys felt that they had a right to shoot flte crackers on Christmas Day even if it did come on Sunday jit would, be interesting to know the | amount of money spent here for fire crackers during the holidays. Thai amount of money would have brought good cheer to many a home that need ed it. But why deprive the boys, of having a little fun? They wRl nevei he young hut once. We ljave heard of no serious accidents to mar the Christmas season. There seemed to be very little drinking in Sanford dui ing Christmas, if so it was not on the surface, Good order was kept by the , polka force and few people , were ar rested for being drank. This was true notwithstanding the wets say there is mote liquor consumed in Sanford than when the town had barrooms. The large number of: boys and girls who returned home from the schools and .colleges contributed their part to a happy Christmas. There were manv enjoyable dinner parties,- many fam ilies entertaining relatives and friends 'fn fheir homes. There were services |n the churches of the town at the ’ll o’clock hour Sunday and the music program included Christmas carols, but a number of the churches had no tught^yrvices. the shops and factories closed Sat urday at the noon hour, hut the mer chants kepi their stores open till a bate hour at night to accommodate the shoppers and to dispose of as many of their goods as possible. It Was a bqsy day for the clerks at the postoffice Chd Postmaster Ralph' Ken nedy bhinbi th« receipts will slow ubcut as gUteh wdl pad parcel post I package# bsudled as a gear ago. Poe 1 holiday* from Southern Pines, where she id teaching in the city schools. - A reunion of the Gahter family was ' held in Sanford during the Christmas . holidays, the membersbeing in. town for a week and 'occupying an apart ment in the home of Ilf. and Mrs. K. L, Baldwin. Those- present were Mrs. Herbert Gunte^ Miss Annie 1 Louise and John Gunter, and Miss j Ruth Gunter, of Greensboro; Mr and I Miss Johnnie Jean Rivers, of Fay 1 etteville, spent the Christmas holi days at home. - : Mrs. E. P. Rogers and daughter, Virginia, of Raleigh, are Visiting Mrs. Rogers’ parents, Mr. and Mrs- T. E* King. Mr. Rogers cams up and spent the Christmas holidays with them. Miss Mildred Jordan, of Mullins, S. C., has returned home after visit ing her grandmother, Mrs. J. F. Rivers. • Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Teal and son, of Boone, spent Christmas with Mr1. Teal’s mother, Mrs. J. F- Rivers, Old Graveyard Cleared Mr. John W. Gilliam, who keeps I some 40 to 50 laborers employed cut , ting and shipping pulp wood, has dur ing the dull season la tho fall and early winter had them clear and | clean up some 50 acres of land own ed by him over on jhocfcet creek in Pocket township, He also had them to clear off the old Pocket cemetery . up near the* old plank road. The I dates on some of the markers show that this eld Scotch graveyard dates I hack more than 100 years. Many of I the Scotch settlers, who earns ever from the old country in the early his ,tory of this country, are taking their I last long sleep in the old burying ground which is in the heart of a , think forest. The pemetery is en closed by a rock wait and an opening [where the pall bearers entered bear* , ing the bodies of the deed, Vary few people have been buried in this' old i cemetery In many yearn. Most of the markers carry the name Mclver, Mc Gitvary, McIntosh, McRae, -McLeod, McDonald, McQueen, -McDougald and 'other familiar Scotch names,. ThO ' Express published a history of thiB old cemetery a few years ago, giving | the named of many who were burled them. The inscriptions on many of the markers are so discolored with [age that it la impossible to decipher itheip. This 1» one jf fcjie many ofd l<# ip this Wt ‘ha State. I Many of these cemeteries were start 44 %y the Scotch and other aaiu«.ra ctenMs w* * r ;.uc* f,^«u.. • WILBUR McLEOD - IS GIVEN PAROEE BY GOV. GARDNER Negro Convicted of First Degree Murder In Loo Superior Court, Mgrch, 1#27, - COMMITTED TO EIFE TERM Governor Gives Parole On Be lief Prisoner Innocent And Desire pf Judge Wilbur McLeod, colored, who wpS arrested upon the charge of murder ing Mrs. Rebecca Matthews at her home! near Broadway in Marsh, 19£7, tried at the next term of lief gtf pgrior Court, found guilty of murder in the first degree by the jury, sen tenced to death by electrocution by Judge R. A. Nunn, who heard the case, and was sent to Jtaleigb and placed on death row to await execu tion. The case was appealed fco the Supreme Court. After reviewing the evidence, which was circumstantial, the higher court "ordered a new trial. The prisoner was sent back to the county for the' second hearing. The hearing was held at the May/ term 1929, court. The jury was finally chosen after exhausting two venires of 160 men from Chatham county. The State introduced evidence by a number of witnesses, but the defense introduced no evidence. As the de fense introduced no evidence it was agreed that'the last speech should be made by attorneys tot the defendant. The first speech was made by J. R. Young, attorney for. McLeod. ' HU made a good impression on the jury, He was followed by Solicitor C. I* 'Wiliams who made out a strong case against McLeod notwithstanding,’he had only circumstantial evidence to base his argument’ on before ’the jury. It was made difficult to handle the case on account of the evidence by the blood hpunds having been ruled out by ^he Supreme Court. The jury whs on the esse several hours, but finally ^->und the defendant guilty for the second time of first degree mur der. Hd was again, sentenced to death by electrocution -ait# to death tow. After -remaining In ^t^j^ihentiary a . short time Vie wa: |ti:iry',for^^Sut*{ff?ee^>^i^a??e i.i .paroled by Gov. O. Max Gardner. I This was one of the most revolting crimes ever committed in this part of the State. Mrs. Matthews Was drag I ged from her room in the “dead” hours of the night and criminally as saulted andi then murdered. It is be (lieved by many of her neighbors and those who heard the trial that Wilbur , McLeod committed the crime. Fol lowing is a letter received by The Ex press from Governor Gardner getting forth the reasons to the Superintend ent of the state Prison why b* paroled the prisoners | “The above named prisoner, Wilbur McLeod, was convicted at the -May term, 1929, Superior Court - ef Lee County of Murder in the. first degree and sentenced to death by electrocu tion. The prisoner’s sentence was later commuted to life imprigopmsnt. “This defendant was first tried by 'Judge R. A. Nunn and he expressed a | great deal of doubt as to the prison aria guilt In the second trial in An [Superior Court Hon. G. E. Midyette heard the case , and stated that the evidence was wholly circumstantial land that there was a probability of {the prisoner’s innocence. Others con rjected with the trial and conviction end Hon. Edwin B. Bridges, former Commissioner of Pardons, who want to the scene and made a personal in jvestigation at the time of the crime, ,have expressed grave doubt as to the 'guilt of the prisoner. In view of this I strong element of doubt upon the part of those most closely connected with ’the case, the prisoner’s sentence was 'commuted from death to ljfe im prisonment, as above outlined. “After this prisoner started upon the service of the life’s sentence and shortly before the death of Judge Midyette, the Judge came to see m$' personally and expressed further, doubt as to the guilt of the prisoner end urged that a parole be granted) him. The Judge was to write a leff ter setting, forth his fooling in this connection but he died before he had] opportunity to do so. “Since the prisoner has been con-i fined I have made a personal investi gation of all of the facts available. I have discussed the case , with the prisoner and with others familiar with the circumstances under which he was convicted gad l here dona every thing possible to arrive! at the truth in this matter. After much deliberation and after considering all of the facts brought out by my own investigation and added to this the strong doubt in the minds of otherg who have gone into the case, I am convinced that this man is not guilty of this crime and is being punished unjustly and I now conceive it my duty to relieve him of further incar ceration and he is( therefore, this day .mmM tM W>»*inder of h% rr-i Negro Shot White engaged in a go w lost Sun day night Thomas Hooker eh»t ike Melvin in the aide with a piat°j- fhe wounded man was carried to the Lee County Hospital where an operation was performed and tho ball extract ed. He has returned to hi» homo.. All am colored- A negro by the name of Martin went gunning for Hooker ^uid sprinkled him with shot from a shot gun. His wounds are slight, COUNTY HOME TO OPEN NEXT WEEK • The people of Lee county are invit ed by the County Commissioners to celebrate the opening of the new . County Home next Monday at which j time the budding will he accepted by the Commissioners and all invited to inspect it. They are naked to bring gifts to the Home such as canned fruit, vegetables and other things that . can he used in the Home. They will j keep “open hpuse” for a week and the j citizens Of the county are flwited to . call any time during the week, fha ] , building is a great Improvement over | the old one .and has many more Mb-, ’ dern conveniences. The people of the county have reason to feel proudi of theirinew County Home. KIWANIANS HAVE CHRISTMAS MEET Kiwanians Play: Santg^luiPR! County’s Unfortunates I During Yuletide. I The program PUt on by 'he Kf-j wanis Club at its meeting at the Caro jinn Hotel last Friday night,“includ- j ’*4 .Christmas carols .’led by 1. C.I Pittman. At the eanclwsion. of tan-1 in the’t iii called on K. J. Husketh, chairman of the committee appointed at the pre-. viotzs meeting, to have charge of the I work of purchasing and distributing! Christmas presents to more than 200 i children in Sanford and Lee County,' to make report of what had been. done. Jdis report showed that the. committee was busy preparing to play Santa Claus to a large number. of children. Dr. J. F. Foster, presi dent-elect, also reported the work of a. joint committee that assisted in this work. All were highly pleased at the idea of the club making a large number of children happy dur ing the Yuletide. | The program closed with a ahprt talk by W. C. York on Christmas. Mr. York made one feel like he w.ant ed to be a child again and hang ujp his stocking in anticipation of a visit fyom Santa Claus Christmas eve. SHERIFF WHITE GETS TWO STILLS New Sheriff Gets Down To Busi ness' By Capturing Two Blockade Stills. Sheriff Ernest White had hardly , taken the oath of office whep he open | ed up on the blockaders and is letting j if lie known that he will show them no quarter. He went on a raid Mon-. day and captured a galvanized still of 4Q to 50 gallons capacity over I near little River, ft had been in operation, all the material worked up | and the liquor moved away. The \ blockader was not present when the i sheriff arrived upon the scene. Sheriff 'White destroyed the outfit. J Sheriff White, Deputy Sheriff ’Henry Poe and J. M. Thorpas made a ( raid between Osgood and the riyer Wednesday morning and .captured gj galvanized drum outfit of about 60 gallons capacity. The still had been in operation, but 'no one waj present at the time the officers made the raid. They found no material at the still pa It had all been worked up aqd parried away. The still was destroy- : e House Substitutes For Djv Gruhaui Here On . Tuesdny Afternoon. rALK ON NEEDS OF WORLD A' joint meeting: of the Botary and Kiwanis clubs was held in the assem bly room of the Wilrik Hotel Tuesday # at 12:30. At the conclusion of dinner ~ the program was opened by E. C. Heins, Jr„ president of the Rotary 3' Club. A short talk was made by P. H, St. Clair, president of the Kiwanis : r Club, after which the speaker of the occasion, R. B. House, executive see- ® retary of the University of ■ North * Carolina, was introduced in a few ap- • “ propriate words by George Wheeler, superintendent of City and County Schools. ; Dr. Frank P. .Graham, president of the Greater University, was to have addressed the two clubs at this meet ing, but on account of the death of a N near relative he was, unable to fill the engagement. This was a great dis appointment to, the .member* of the.- , tWo’hiiibs/. but Mr. House proved > a mighty good substitute. He first pai§ ^ Dr. Gf-aJtiSffl ‘a beautiful* tribute and Skid’that inbhis association with him he had dfevihi great inspiration front him. “He is one of the great men of — his generation,” said the speaker. He ' said he was the Son of Scotch parent*, bom in Fayetteville and .reared.in. Charlotte. Mr. House told of* his wort hs one of the leading educatorg3 of his' day, that ' jn school Wort be -jf was know# far beyjmd the bounds of Us, State; even^pHf^Eipf London ; and other (Btept educational centere of EupspA *?.■.J S:. v Mr. House sgid that as he wdf speaking to a get-together he folt that it would be appropr three sub-heads—“religion, education. Democracy.” He first emphasized the importance of Cooperation among the people in the spiritual or religious activities of life. He said we were dodging here and there trying to find some way out .and that in our. strug gle for existence’ we had made a new discovery, that the way to solve the great problem was to. make religion he supreme thing. He emphasized religion as chief of the fundamentals: that we should look to God, the Path* Sr, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit for guidance. He said them was something ratten in the hearts of th50lf>eft|fe or the! world would not ite'tn this shape. Politically speaking the speaker said that we had slipped away from odr mdorings and that we should get back to democratic principles; that class domination was not in keeping with the spirit that should obtain among. the masses. In conclusion Mr. House discussed at some length the subject of education. He said that education was a growth of thA mind and that we could not afford to neglect the training of the young peo ple for the responsibilities of life. He saw danger in curtailing the work of the schools and colleges for the sa|ce of accumulating money. His speech made a good impression and was given close attention by all who bsstd &, « Guests of Mr. and Mrs. D. H. Gpoper Christmas Pay yreie Misses Dixie pnd Elsie Cooper, Autryville; L. M. Cooper, Jr., Pittsboro; Mr. and Mrs. L. B. Moore and children, Bar bara, Lewis, Jr., and Claire, of Fu qnay Springs; Mr. and Mrs. McDon ald Davis and daughter, Miss Virginia and son, McDonald, Jr., of Clinton; apid Mrs. Curtis Thompson. Miss Virginia and McDonald Davis were with them until' Tuesday. TANTAUZER The letters in the lines below iroperly arranged spell the lames of two persons in Ban :ord., If the persons whose iamee are represented by the rrppp of jotters decipher their >wp names and bring1 copies df his paper to The Express Offiee . lefore next Wednesday night* o each of them will be given a ' / 'ree ticket admitting them t* he show »t the TemplgThestre rhnrsday night. This week’s TantsWzw: NHOAMYD EWRHte_ ftjBfltffJ NGia^wT ' '' ."»V: T**'