•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 Civil War passed into
• history- ... • , _ . - .. . •
** ’.jOniy a few, landmarks of the battle"
of Ayerasboro; still remain, Save the
- ©otton''pfahted anfmairy In the field
1*- 8 u r r o u n ding, the-silent graves „
hii fict far d' t artTi'n t arer the only,
* ®0«d»ny the. “Gypsy” has. Counting
•V' the ycars a* theji. passr it stands with ...
>-> ;• 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