•o V (By Charles Edwards) t ,, * It was the Patriots’" testing time. Throughout fhe entire Southland kin •\ r: dred had become r enemies to their J •. .* - northern brothers, and blood ran. fn rivers from every battlefield; - y . It was March 17, 1865, before Le^s f-': »- surrender at Appomatex April Id On . V the tongue of every person not aWe to yy- fight was the ceaseless argument of -' Blue versus Gray, while in the lowpr part of Harnett County the constant ., r? £ ^booming of cannon and crackling rifles kept Mother Nature a-tremMe. 21 r Today a memorial cemetery, Cbieora, commemorated the heroes wh©- died in the battle of Averasbero, six and one half miles from Dunn. It should be recalled that in early times when the permanent site for the state capital was toeing voted’ on, that , Averasboro lacked only one vote win 'i Bing the decision ov«r Raleigh. Aver ~ f aslww was at that time a flourishing , young river village on the Cape Fear j with considerable trade in forest prcf- : duets. ~ .• j. Yes, it was Patriots’ testing time. - The war was lost track won. Greatly discouraged by their Jack of numbers * and lack of reinforcements, the game but battered „ Confederate troops were V forced to their rear,.lines white the new • !. Union troops pen red into the conflict. ", Bat those men in Gray • had accom . plislied their mission. They were sent against one main division of General' Sherman’s forces,to- keep them in check While General Johnson attacked ; fhC other division. ^ They had not - hoped to win, ‘but they were protecting General Lee from a soothers attack. . tv Thlr they did, bat guUeys full of fcin dred blood was the price. The skirmish started, on a large plan tat Lon, about two miles northwest of Godwin. The Federalists marched ont llV of tftr.iwnodg, and ^hr Confederates ;;_made tise of the field , and galleys as a ^ buttle field and bfesfst-Wori®. Trees r - • and barns were destrc^rwl by the wfnz- i ji1: zing lead and steet However, hi the . midair of alb this# one pine tree lsfebod unscarred, nnmolesiCd. While, every neighboring twig of- vegetation, was be V?:; ing hewn, down, and destroyed, this . t : tree stood, a living- memorial and wit nes» of «lf that had Jaken place; T5iaditi»fc aft nttfierous as % the teasoB for this phenomenon. OAe of x - < them lag that daring the thick of the .. . a. (phantom Gypsy girl, swept to the top* of this pine "and by her magic power Cast a spell about the tree, and , it Was untouched. The truth of this ^ story can not, of «cOnrse, be asserted. * However, the aR-important feet re ?}'■■■ mains, as does the tree; and to-day it may"be seen standing alone in a large open field-, its long boughs turn . . sd upward and then down as they near the end, bnt curled up again at.the tip like the bow of a Greek warrior. . ' Up the road about a mile, is the ■ ' graveyard, Where those brate ones who gave their RfeWood ,for their eause lie - sleeping, awaiting -the day of judg ment. '1 . 1 Iii that gate day's battle, from about \.x dawn to sunset, ^Sonth 'Carolinians fought, hard .under the leadership of Hardee. About three or four times as . many northerners were killed that day ! as Southerners. UndTr cover of night Hardee marched his men to Benton vfllo wher# they joined the forces cwm manded by Joseph R.' JohnsOny and > 1 there fought two days.• Prom this engagement Johnson with drew inTgood order, moving northward, intending to hit Sherman's front seV ‘ ; etai mere times before joining Lee in Tirgtoto* But the; surrender at Appo V mattox ent short this plstn. Peace? bad . conao; and *h-> ;• ft* boughs drooped as in mourning, % -.conscious only of ”’ God’s occasional . breezes or perbaps'a cnriotjs spectator tvhd comes to marvel aft its miraculous prreervatioir. : Itegere- tirer war, it had Served as # Hwdfisg port ted V - iwfc iWw forsake* after tWs
0 lan guage of tnees. The poet, Hubfenrd f.. Page, reared within one mile of the “Gypsy” „■ has caught something of its. spell, as is revealed in his poem, “The Wtraith of the Gypsy Pinef, Which fol-, lows r ■ " - THE WRAITH OF TH£ GYPSY PWB Where broad plantations hinder spare A strip of woods, between* With brook and stream and many a •' rare . :_t ^ , WSld flowet and evergreen, ' v, Beside, the old stage highway, still . May the traveler descry, ■■■ ■ ^Topping a sparsely wooded hill, A pine against the sky. Apart, lofty, sedate, it stanas \ With 'branches drooping low; Beneath which, gay, far:faring bands . • Pitched tent long, long ag67 And sang or danced or sighed or • laughed’, Tbmoodfulrioi and lyre, . • Orpiiedtheir mystic Old World Craft About the Quaint forge fire. And old,wires tell how, on a day /When March winds loudly blew, ... The Touder blast of battle fray Here shook the forest through; > And how, when mangled trees and mgjt Lay scattered on the ground, - The gypsy Pine o’er-looked the glen, No mark upon it found. ." - And one tells how’a Kundri girl , _ Stood tip-toe on its top, And when she gave her Wand a twirl . The cannon Bad! ^cmld ctrop^ Brop sudden there ta swiftest flight,'. TIB #htek dhe* earth was strawy LAmuuA1r. run juuub FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT I CHARLES ROSS ■ — of Harnett County Democratic Primary, Jntte 2, 1934 “Mr. Rossi 'By nature and training has the qualities of: head and heart which will insure the maintenance of the high standards the people of the Fourth Judicial. District are accu* touted to expect.” —Hamit Count? Ear* "Anr&hs the tree, throughout fhe fight, ; * andh»r. Tells how, wh«i Wotifete* fami* And mate*/ In*!*^ the strife: * She still stood there in sash iuid«rawiv - Her waad how changed to fife. Andidew a weird outlandish wail? Over the stiffening dead, ; Then stepping off upon the- gale, - into flie ddl^ness sped. The shifting seasons duly bring ; The rain croW to his wood ;. The swift poises on rapturous wing . Tqward some far-visioned good. Bui the Romani folk no mdre •Return unto their tree WithWtt$iprophette Baynife lofer ■ And wilder minstrelsy. Yet some do say, on charmed nights,. Under the lonely Pine, ! A gypsy court its cainp fire lights, . The briefest space to shine. And who makes hold to hasten there, , TTII1 find, in state, the tfoeeSi ' And. have of her iworda passing fair, Of all his life may mean. „ Such fortune never to, me fell, Yet, when I thither stray, The hrookside flowers, a gracious Spell, : >' ; w } Upon my musing* lay; Or, when the, staa-s look from the skies Upon the ancient Tree, With the night wind, my spirit flies Toward life’s far mystery, „ ; . Let Wittbome —;J: -,r Go To No Expanse t Cjne Macon has entered the primary against Stanley Win borne, present Commissioner ©f Utilities. It is really unfair for Mr. Winborne to have to spend a dollar in a campaign. Appointed by the Governor to fill out an unexpired term on the (fid Corporation Commis sion, he had to run. at the next primary to continue that un ex pired term. Then came the regular election and he hadr to run again. That was only two years ago. Next the old commission was abolished and Mr. Winborne appointed on the new One. But that appointment, like the first, can hold only till the next elec tion. Now he must be elected to hold the job to which he was so recently appointed—three elections within four years. Let’s lei him understand that he will be elected without his worrying or going to any ex pense. We know he fits the job—it is not known whether the other candidate would fit it or not. ___ F# The Budb of Heartless Scoundrels? ‘Miss Hattie^ Berry, early champion of good roads, has joined Captain Ashe in his agi nation for the teturn of the Whipping5 post r Why there should he So much regard for the backs and feelings of ras cals who hesitate not to steal, td get drunk and kill with ears, or make and sell liquors to those who do kill under its influence is really strange. For months,as Miss Berry points out, youngsters are fed In jail at-public expense While awaiting trial and when sent to the roads scarcely earn their Victuals. A good lashing and release with a warning to go and sin no more Would probably do the culprit more good and save the State much expense, If the dis grace is greater than a chain gang- sentence the world is open for the scamp to make a new start in Instill is hack and must Stand trial. The Leas are on their way to the North Caro lina ^prison* or there already. The laW'W* arm is long and strong, if at times of the Fourth District 1 hereby announce my can didacy for the Democratic nommatioa for Solicitor of the Fourth District. Your support will be much appreciated. - Respectfully, J. R, (BOB) YOUNG HIS RECORD Born arid raised/dt Wallace, Dupint CdtmtyvH. C.,*son of Dr. D. McL. Graham and Elizabeth Murphy Graham; educated at the Clement Academy in Wallace, the tfni- J - yersity of North Carolina, and graduate of the University of Virginia Law School; admitted to the Bar of North Carolina in 1899;; practiced Jaw at Clinton since 1903; r Mayor of Town, ofi Clinton for two terms; Secretary and Li Cfeairfnan of the Board of Trustees of the Clinton ' Graded School; Secretary and later Chairman of the : Sampson County Democratic Executive Coinmittee; Mem- ' her of State Democratic Executive Committee fypih 1&2&§| to present time; Elected KcpfesentatiVe from SampsOn. County tothe!927 General Assembly, being: the first Democrat eteetedto represent Sampson County in more than 3