Randolph
etiiBo
11
A RANDOLPH COUNTY PAPER FOR RANDOLPH COUNTY PEOPLE.
VOL.
ONE DOLLAR A YEAR.
5,
NO. 43.
ASHEBORO, N. C, THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 1910.
Halley's Comet
Important Facts
i THE WORLD'S FAIR OF THE FUTURE
Gathering and Condensed About
the Great Celestial
Visitor
times larger
IMPORTANT
Size-1,000,000
than the earth.
Speed Millions upon millions
of miles a day.
Character Comet is composed
of three parts the nucleus, the
head and the tail. " The head is
of the same composition as the
tail, only denser. The head is so
transparent that stars can be
seen shining through it. Noth
ing is known of the composition
of the nucleus.
The tail Is composed of gas
and minute particles of metal
not unlike dust. Should the tail
be long enough when, ' on May
18, the comet cuts through the
plane of the earth to reach the
earth, the effect would be a fine
display of luminous vapor.
Time of passage Between
7:30 and 8:30 on the evening of
May 18, the comet will pass be
tween the earth and the son. As
the sun sets in Norht Craolina on
that date at 7:07 p. m. (World
Almanac) it cannot be witnessed
in this state, but might be seen
from California, Hawaii, the
Philippines and Japan, although
it may be possible that at that
time it will not be able to be
seen even with the telescope.
Distance At the time the
comet passes through the plane
of the earth it will be 78,360,000
miles from the sun and 14,640,
000 miles from the earth, and
the tail, that always streams
away from the sun, would have
to be more than 14,640,000 miles
long to envelop the earth, and it
may not be that long. The comet
reaches its nearest point to the
sun about the middle of April.
Collision Impossible While
the orbits of the earth and the
comet cross each other, they are
not in the same plane. In other
words, it is not a ' 'grade cross
ing." Thus, no collision of the
earth and the comet is possible.
The Best Views The best
views of the comet . for the gen
eral public will be from the mid
dle of April until the first week
or so of May, when it will be
seen with the naked eye just be
fore dawn a little south of where
the sun rises and just a little
distance above the horizon; and
again for a couple of weeks af
ter May 18, when it will appear
just after sunset, a little south
of west and at a considerable
height above the horizon.
Finest Spectacle-The most
: interesting spectacle is expected
to be afforded on May 1, when
the comet nears Venus. The
planet and the comet will be the
same distance from the earth
and every one will be able to
note their relative sizes. To see
the comet then, one will have to
be up before five o'clock in the
morning;. In fact, only the early
risers will see the comet before
it passes between the earth and
the sun.
Once Nearer-In 1835 Halley's
comet came within 5,000,000
miles of the earth. As it did not
then pass between the earth and
the sun, the tail was pointed in
another direction.. The tail al
ways points away from the sun.
No Danger Eminent asjono
mers say there is no danger. It
is not., known for certain, if,
when the comet passes between
the earth and the sun, the tail
will be long enough to reach
and envelop the earth. A Cali-
In all probability the city of
' San Francisco, will hold an inter
national exposition, or, as it is
more popularly known, a "Worlds
Fair," to celebrate the opening!
of the Panama Canal in 1915.
If the promoters of the fair are j
willing to profit by the lessons
of former expositions, their ef
forts will be directed to making
the coming fair notable, not for
mere bulk and area, but for its
compactness and the genuine ex
cellence of its carefully selected
exhibits. The trouble with many
previous expositions has been
that they were big to the point
of being wearisome and oppres
sive. A climax in this direction
was reached at the St- Louis
Fair, in one single building of
which a visitor had to traverse
nine miles of aisles if he wished
merely to walk past the whole
of the exhibits. Whatever may
be the ulterior motive, the avow
ed object of these exhibitions is
educational. Therefore, they
should contain only the most dis
tinctive and valuable results of
the world's scientific, industrial,
sociological, and constructive
work. And in this connection
we wTould ask whether it is not
almost an insult to the good taste
and intelligence of the millions
that are solicited to enter such
an exposition, if a large section
of its space is devoted to that
cheap form of entertainment
which Was inaugurated by the
notorious Midway Plaisance at
the Chicago Exposition. San
Francisco .will have a great op
portunity, by breaking away
from certain false traditions, to
render this, the latest of exposi
tions, something better than a
mere plaything of the real-estate
dealer, the side-show man,
and the politician. Scientific
American.
Mr. Republican voter,
If your poll tax is NOT
paid, you have less than
ten days in which to pay
it. Be sure a democratic
sheriff nor his deputy will
not "call on you for your poll
tax before May 1st Af
ter that date you will be
compelled to pay, even if
it takes your cow, or mule
or the coat off your back.
Pay your poll tax, qualify
yourself to take part as a
free American citizen in
the great battle of ballots
in November.
The time is short, act
NOW.
SACREDNESS OF AN OATH
THE SOUTHBOUND.
DEMOCRATIC MISRULE
Some Facts and Figures Pertaining to
County Affairs Court House not Paid
for Finance Committee Report
A Farce
of 1908
seekers
Till! Fighting Parson.
A preacher had offended a man
who had the reputation of being
a fighting character and the
man with ire in his bosom vowed
that he would wipe the earth up
with the parson the first time he
saw him. Soon 'they chanced to
meet and the fighter told the
preacher that he would have to
ht him. In a cool and deliber
ate way the parson remarked
that if nothing else would do he
could fight, but asked permission
to rsrav before the fiffht. The
i: J ;
good man fell upon his knees,
and prayed as follows:
"O Lord, thou knowest that
this fight that we are about to
begin was not brought about of
my own accord, but that this
man standing before me has
thrust it upon me, and now,
Lord, I implore thee to give me
strength in this conflict as thou
didst when I killed Jim Baker.
Be merciful to the widow and
orphan children of this wicked
man and wash my hands of the
blood of this monster and the
praise shall be thine forever.
Amen."
And the preacher arose from
his knees the fighting man was
crone and nothing but a cloud of
dust could be seen down the
road.
forma chemist claims to have
discovered cyanogen gas (a dead
ly poison) in its tail. Prof.
Frost, of the Yerkes observa
tory, says:
tail of the
i density of the vacum in an elec
tric light bulb and there cannot
possibly be enough poisonous gas
in it to hurt a fly.'"
"The density of the
comet is about the
(By A. Newman)
During the campaign
the democratic office
heralded broadcast from every
stump in the county the an
nouncement that they were go
ing to build "our" court house
without issuing bonds and with
out raising the tax a single cent,
and it is a matter of current
history how well they kept their
promise. As a matter of fact
they did not raise the "rate" a
single cent and here is where
they pulled the wool over the
eyes of the good people of old
Randolph County, for while they
did not raise the "rate," those
who wish to make a comparison
will find that the "net amount"
is much larger than two years
ago, owing to the fact that the
list takers doubled, and trebled
in many instances in listing
property, and the net result
shows an enormous increase in
the amount of taxes collected.
This was only one of the many
election schemes worked to mis
lead the voter, and blind him
from the true facts as they ex
isted. As a sequel to the whole
muddled affair came that great
Finance- Committee's Report,
which stated that to give a de
tailed report of the countys
financial condition would re
quire the services of an expert
accountant for weeks, and which
was nothing more nor less than
a blooming farce, misleading in
its every step inasmuch as the
report stated one thing and the
committee saw fit to whitewash
the whole affair by stating dif
ferently. ' 'We find that the new
Court House has cost $29,544.99
every cent of which has been
paid."
So stated the committee. As
was stated in the last issue of
the Bulletin, no doubt but what
the brick, masons, the carpenters
and the plasterers have been
paid, but what about the numer
ous people over the county that
holds notes against the county.
Have they been paid? What
about that little item that ap
peared in the proceedings of the
commissioners meeting for last
month when T. F. Wrenn was
paid $120. 00 for six months in
terest, which at the rate of six
per cent per annum would mean
I the neat little sum of four thou
sand dollars, has that been paid?
Again, ii the Court House has
been paid for in full, for what
reason does the county keep pay
ing interest on those outstanding
notes, and for what reason are
they outstanding?
Nc doubt the party now in the
saddle think they have the facts
well concealed but be sure your
sins will find you out, as they
surely will, and then will be a
day of reckoning that will lay
ring rule low in Randolph Coun
ty. We do not wish to be un
derstood as placing ourself on
record as being opposed to Ran
dolph having a good court house,
for she surely needs one as badly
as anv countv in the state, but
v
why not build it in a business
like way instead of blinding the
people of the truth and leading
them around in the dark as has
been done in Randolph County.
If the people in Randolph
county could get a look at the
books and find out the true exist
ing conditions they would rise
with all their might and crush
the power of the ring under
whose oppression they are now
subject to misrule and deception.
Now that the court house is
complete except being paid for
whv not clean it out from eel-
Iar to garret and begin a new
administration that will place
Randolph county in the leading
ranks of all the counties in the
State, that will govern wisely,
judiciously and justly; and that
will place her on a higher plane
than that which she is now on.
Such would be the result of a
Republican administration.
Should the day ever come when
the solemn oath calling upon God
to witness the truth of what we
say or promise will be lightly re
garded by the generality of men,
it will be the day that sounds the
death knell of all human faith and
trust. The oath is the highest
tribunal of conscience its court
of last appeal. For the man who
realizes thoroughly what it mean,
and really believes in a God, it is
something supremely awe-inspiring;
and nothing short of duty,
or direst need, or at least the
most justifiable utility, could in
duce him to take it. Houses it
not as an ordinary, everyday con
firmation of his srood faith, but
only aa a last resort. If his oath
won't suffice to hold him to the
truth, assuredly nothing else will.
His case is truly hopeless; no con
fidence can be placed in him. .
The oath is, in truth, nothing
less than summoning the Omnipo
tent God jnto court to serve as a
pltdge or security for our good
faith. It is a bold enough ven
ture even when wTe feel that we
have justice and right on our side;
and how can we fittingly charac
terize the act of one who dares
to call on the name of the Almigh
ty to sanction an injustice or to
witness a lie? To make an equal
a fellow man a party to such
an infamous proceeding would be
justly considered one of, the most
grevious -wrongs we could inflict
upon him; to treat a friend thus
is one of the meanest and foul
est acts of treachery, and it is !
well nigh impossible to conceive
how even the most -depraved
could have the hardihood to at
tempt such trick ey with his
Maker.
The oath, then, is the strong
est and last surviving safeguard
of human truth and justice, of
human faith and trust; and if
that last, strong bulwark ever
fails us, then will surely come
the deluere. And yet, jn spite of
its awful sacredness, we have
ample evidence from many quar
ters that the onth is treated very
frequently with but scant re-j
spect, and that, too, bv people j
who claim to believe firmly in
God and His justice. Th? sa
loonkeeper who violates his oath !
A dispatch from. Winston says
that the Southbound, . as has al
ready been announced, will lay
its own rails. The work is to be
gin May 1, and will start at Lex
ington. About the 20th of May
similar work will start at Win
ston. Two locomotives and 60
flat cars are now at Roanoke and
will be sent to the points men
tioned shortly. All' along the
line the contractors -are rapidly
finishing up their work, several
having almost completed their
sections. In some places day
and night work both is going on.
There are 17 steam shovels and
a number of concrete outfits em
ployed. Were labor-more plenti
ful, it is asserted, the construc
tion would be carried forward
even more rapidly than it is.
The right of way matter be
tween the Whitney Power Com
pany and the Southbound was up
before Judge Pritchard at'Ashe
ville again last Thursday, and
a dispatch says:
At a hearing before Judge
Pritchard in the matter of the
Winston-Salem Southbound Rail
road Company crossing the lands
of the Whitney company near
the power plant, the court re
ferred the matter back for the
railroad and the receivers of the
Whitney company to get together
and submit an agreement.
It is understood that the rail
road company will pay several
thousand dollars damages to the
power company for the right to
cross iust above the power plant,
the power company alleging that
the piers of the bridge will dam
age the water , storage basm.
C. B. Watson and H. E. Fries,
president of the Southbound, and
Receivers John S. Henderson
and C. W. Smith and their at
torneys," Burton Craige, for the
Whitney company, were here in
the matter. This is the last
serious hold-up in the right-of-way
of the Southbound and will
be settled in a few days Dispatch.
Closing Exercises of the Colored
Graded School
The closing exercises of the
colored graded school will be as
follows:
Wednesday April 27; Primary
hv selliner on Sunday or to minors exercises.
would likely resent with somej Thursday April 28, Grammar
force the charge of insulting the grades will rqnder a program.
Almighty. He will try to justi- Friday April 29; Graduating
f v himself on the plea that his ; exercises.
promise is a mere matter of form, I Annual address will be deliver-
A Furniture Center.
Just a few years ago a natural
forest stood on the side of the
Srtnfhprn Railwav in North Caro-
lina. The people in this section
discovered that the timber was
good perhaps no better than
that which grows throughout the
South but they, knew what was
there to be good. There wasn't
so much to see, but a plenty to
saw. meysaweuiu rsuw uih
Point, Lexington and Thomas
villeare known throughout the
commercial world as a center for
the furniture industry. Othe in
dustries are keeping pace with
this line. Ex.
extorted ffom him compulsory,
hence not binding.. So, too, the
saloonkeeper's Sunday customer
will often deny under oath the
fact of his getting liquor and
seems to think that charity or
friendship will excuse, if not
sanctify, his perjury. Witnesses
in other criminal and civil court
cases sometimes act similarly
and perhaps for the same rea
sons as the foregoing. And as
regards officeholders unmindful
of their sworn oaths, we all know
their name is legion. Doubtless,
like the aforementioned saloon
keeper, they regard their oath
of office as a mere matter of
form, entailing no serious or real
obligation.
Morality is, certainly at a very
low ebb where things have come
to such a . pass as, this. Few
words none, in fact are need
ed by Dr. J. P. Morris of Ben
nett College, Greensboro, N. C.
Exercises begin at 8 p. m. All
of the programs promise to be
interesting. This has been a
most successful school year.
treat it as a mere empty form is
a mockery of the Almighty. God
does not lend Himself to empty
forms. If quibbling and equivo
cation are unpardonable in ordi
nary intercourse between man
and man, they are still more in
excusable when confirmed by a
solemn oath. The only conceiv
able explanation of this frivolous
disregard of sworn obligations by
people professing belief in God
and His justice is thoughtless
ness or a failure to realize the
nature of the act by which they
11 a! A 1 :U-., flmt tr urtfnoos
ed to show the groundlessness cauuwuw
n00,fCn,WM the sincerity ot tneir pngmeu
aiiu iiuiiLvu w,.- j
and' we -can't help wondering if
those who urge them really take
them seriously. An oath freely
(even though reluctantly) taken
or justly exacted is strictly bind
ing; and neither self-interest,
nor friendship, nor sweet charity
itself can make it otherwise. To
word. It is high time to awaken
to a sense of its serious and sa
cred character, for our present
looseness in the matter is grad
ually weakening and allowing to
slip under us this strongest foun
dation of faith and trust among
men. Baltimore Sun.