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VOLUME XXXII NUMBERS
LAURINBURG. N. C, THURSDAY, JANUARY 15. 1914.
STRANGER CHECK FLASHER
CAUGHT HERE FRIDAY
Mr. Charles E. Davis, Alias R. H. Davis, Arrested Here Friday
by Hhi x ilT of Northampton County On Charge of Forgery:
Had Laid Plans Here for a Big Haul
When Arrested.
Buying out a business that re
quired an expenditure of $2,000,
operating it just two days, and
on. the afternoon of the second
day rushed to jail, charged with
forgery, was the experience of
Charles E Davis, alias R. H. Da
vis, a stranger who came to Lau
rinburg Wednesday of, last week
and bought out the firm of Look
& Perkins, who operated a bake
ry and cafe.
Mr. Davis fir3t came here Sun
day before these happenings, and
after making the deal with Look
& Perkins left Monday, as he
stated, for Rocky Mount for his
family. He, together with his
wife and six children, returned
to Laurinburg Wednesday and
completed the deal for the busi
ness. As soon as the price and terms
had been determined upon Mr.
Davis introduced himself at the
State Bank and expressed a de
sire to open an account with that
institution and presented checks
signed by persons worth up into
the hundreds of thousands of
dollars. The checks bore every
mark of being genuine and the
wealth of the parties drafted up
on satisfied the bank of their
goodness. Mr. Davis received
credit for the checks, amounting
to $1,771.70, and a check book,
which h proceeded to use lav
ishly. His first act was to write
Look & Perkins a check for $1,
000, it being one-half the pur
chase price of the business, a
mortgage having been taken for
the balance. No one thought of
fraud or forgery until Friday
about noon, when Mr. H. L'. Joy
ner, sheriff of Northampton
county, arrived in the city and
caused the arrest of Mr. Davis.
The sheriff was armed with a
warrant for his arrest upon a
charge of forgery. Upon arri
ving in the city Sheriff Joyner
communicated with Sheriff Mc
Laurin and told him his business
and Who he was after. Sheriff
McLaurin visited the cafe and
found Mr. Davis busily engaged
in waiting upon the trade. Mr.
Davis was invited by Sheriff Mc
Laurin to accompany him to his
office, which he freely did. Upon
arriving at the court house he
was confronted by the visiting
officer, whom he knew well, and
when faced with the charge as
contained in the indictment,
made no comment but hung his
head.
The charge consisted in the
forgery of a check, presumably
signed by a concern in Virginia,
is for $246.80, on which he traded
about $25 and received the bal
ance in cash from E. S. Bowers,
a merchant at Jackson, N. C.
This was on Dec. 31, and on Jan
6th Mr. Bowers was notified that
the check was no good. Sheriff
Joyner stated to the Exchange
reporter that he immediately
began to search for him, and in
his chase of 300 miles across the
State, traced him to Lasker and to
Potensico, to Relford, Rocky
Mount, Southern Pines, Hamlet
and on here, where he found
him.
The arrest of the stranger for
forgery caused a quick investiga
tion upon the part of the State
Bank here, and immediately tel
egrams came pouring in to say,
"no good," and then it was dis
covered that he was a check
flasher of some quality. Messrs.
Look & Perkins immediately
took, charge of the business and
Mr. Davis was placed in jail,
wThere he remained until Satur
day evening, when Sheriff Joyner
carried him back to Northamp
ton county to await trial. The
visiting officer was also armed
with a warrant from thi3 county
for his arrest when the courts of
Northampton are finished with
him.
Mr. Davis is about 45 year3 of
age, a carpenter by trade and a
citizen of Lasker. According to
a statement made by Sheriff Joy
ner to an Exchange reporter, he
does not bear a gcod reputation
and has been in similar trouble
for the past five years and has
not lived with his family for
more than a year. Mrs. Davis
and the children, acting upon the
advice of Sheriff Joyner, we un
derstand, have gone to East Lau
rinburg and have employment in
one of the cotton mills.
The day before Mr. Davis ar
rest one of his children, who was
present when he was asked his
initials, disputed that given by
his father, and corrected him by
giving his real initials instead of
the fake ones he was using here
for the purpose of completing his
big steal.
It is the opinion of a great
many that his purpose was to
check out all the cash he could
and then disappear, but he lin
gered on the job a day too long.
Messrs. Look & Perkins, who
were in readiness to leave Sat
urday, have unpacked and will
continue to operate the business
as heretofore.
CONDENSED NEWS iA uULUMN OF
FROM EVERYWHERE! STATE NEWS
1 1 i
A Column of the Week's Happenings ) Short lfems of North Carolina News of
Throughout the World Told In Brief
Gathered From Our Contemporaries
and Boiled Down For Our Readers.
Postoftce News From Washington.
Two of the postoffice squabbles
in Congressman Page's district
which have given him consider
able uneasiness during the past
few months will in all probability
be settled in his favor during the
next week or ten days. These
contests are at Laurinburg, where
Senator Simmons has held up the
appointment of G. H. Russeii for
six months, and at Monroe where
Mr. Page recommended the ap
pointment of E. C. Winchester,
and Secretary of the Navy Dan
iels has asked Postmaster General
Burleson to appoint George Beas
ley Russell's appointment has been
held up because Senator Simmons
wished to have A. H. James ap
pointed. It is understood that
another position has been secured
for Mr. James, possibly prefera
ble to the postmastership and
that Russell's nomination will go
through shortly. Senator Sim
mons will arrive here next Mon
day and at a conference held be
tween him and Congressman
Page the whole situation is ex
pected to be cleared up in a man
ner satisfactory to all concerned.
Secretary Daniels' plea made to
Postmaster General Burleson
in behalf of George Beasley has
held up the appointment of E. C.
Winchester who Mr. Page recom
mended for postmaster at Mon
roe about a month ago. As it is
altogether beyond the right of
the secretary of the navy to dic
tate appointment of postmasters,
even in his home state, it is a
foregone conclusion that Mr.
Burleson will soon have to advise
the Honorable Josephus of his
inability to comply with his wish
es, and forward
nomination to the senate. Mr.
Daniels may be expected to hold
out for Beasley as long as possi
ble, and Mr. Burleson will also pa, Florida,
do his best to comply with the
wishes of the secretary of. the
navy, but eventually the post
master will be named by the
proper authority in this in
stance, Congressman Page. Geo.
H. Manning in. Charlotte News,
Jan. 10th.
Abe Smith, a respected negro
of Cherokee county, S. C, who
died a few days ago at the age of
83, had 43 children, according to
a Gaff ney correspondent. It is
believed that Abe's showing in
this line is a record-breaker.
Fifteen persons were killed
while playing baseball in the
United States during 1913.
Twelve were killed by being hit
in the head by pitched balls and
foul tips were responsible for the
other three deaths.
A committee on the preventa
tion of blindness in New York
says that more than half of the
eye weakness of men in that city
can be traced to the barbershops.
It is said that bay rum and other
face lotions used in some shops
contain wood alcohol and inhaling
these fumes or getting into the
eyes cause weakness of this or
gan. "Keep only well bred hens and
treat them as hens like to be
treated and the high cost of
eggs will never trouble you."
This is the advice given hy C. H.
Rogers of Mountain Grove; Mo.,
who has ten hens which laid 2,000
eggs in twelvemonths.
W. H. Melloney, of Hartford,
Conn., was fined $20 for fraudu
lent advertising the .other day.
Melloney advertised a sale of
$1.50 PER YEAR, IN ADVANCE '
HISTORIC SKETCH
OF FLORAL COLLEGE
1 I 3 3 .1 1 J
rccyiju-iiauu guuus aim sum a rug nM.,.,unm wna tt,p first m!)n
which he represented to have i Ma c "
"Marcaria" Coining.
The management of the local
opera house announces the com
ing of "Marcaria" which is book
ed for Thursday, January 29th.
The play as well as the book de
cost $65 for $20. It later de
veloped that a department store
was selling them for $12 50.
If you suffer from, indigestion,
become a cannibal and eat human
flesh. This is the remedy offered
by a great physician of Paris.
Jack Binn, the wireless hero
of the steamer Republic disaster
in 1909 will receive $12,500 be
cause a moving picture concern
exploited a fake portrait of him.
South Carolina chartered 650
new enterprises during 1913.
A negro meeting which was to
have been held in a white church
in Maryland January lst was
prevented by a ruling made by
the State's attorney, who said
that in view of the recently
enacted segregation act, it would
be a violation of the law to have
the meeting in the white church.
Plans have been filed in the
New York City Building Bureau
for what will be if built, the tall
est structure in the world. It
will be 51 stories, or 984 feet
high and will cost $12,500,000.
A check for $500,000 was hand
ed Cardinal Gibbons the 'past
week as a contribution for the
Catholic University at Washing
ton from the Knight of Columbia
of the United States. It is pro
posed to found fifty scholarships
Winchester's ! for young men studying for the
priesthood at the University.
A passenger line of airships
between St. Petersburg and Tam
was inaugurated
January 1st. The distance is
twenty-two miles across the bay
and the schedule is eighteen to
twenty minutes. Two ships
capable of Carrying four passen
gers beside the driver have been
purchased.
Mrs. Alexander Landau of St.
Louis, Mo., lost a $10,000 dia
mond bracelet while on her way
General Interest To Scotland County
in tonflensed Form For Exchange
Readers Gathered from Con
temporaries. Biltmore will vote for a post
master on February 10th.
A Fayette ville dealer received
a shipment of garden seeds a few
days a?o, the amount of which
summed up $900.
The liquor consumers of Con
cord used 2,338 gallons during
December. At least this much
has been accounted for.
The one hundred and twenty
seventh annual session of the
North Carolina Grand Lodge of
Masons met in Raleigh Tuesday
night.
Guilford coanty is to build a
new court house. The old one
was sold last week to the Jeffer
son Standard Life Insurance Co.
for $150,000.
Paul A. Hubbell, a teacher in
the school at Mars Hill, Madison
county, has won the 1914 Rhodes
scholarship from this State to
Oxford, England.
The State is now hiring its
convicts to counties at $1.50 per
day each. The State feeds,
clothes and guards the prisoners
and sells their labor at this price.
Mr. William Clark, of Liles-
ville, died in a Charlotte hospital
Friday from injuries received by
a belt, which flew off a wheel in
a lumbar plant where he was en
gaged.
ComK'lsioner W. H. Osborne,
An Interesting and Correct Historical Sketch of Floral College.
One of the First Institution of its Kind in North
Carolina Written by Miss
Cora John.
The State Normal College at
Greensboro has inaugurated the
custom of requiring the members
of its classes aspiring to a diplo
ma to write a monograph on some
subject of State history not cov
ered by any history now extant
In this way njuch valuable mate
rial will be saved and some day
the historian will arrive that will
use it for a great history of a
great State and people. We have
been great on making history,
but have let others get the credit
for much of it.
Last year Miss Cora John, ot
Lumber Bridge, -then a junior at
the Normal, wrote a monograph
on Floral College", wThich was pub
lished in the Robesonian, and
which we are reproducing in this
issue. Miss Cora will graduate
at the Normal next-June. She is
a grand-daughter of the late
Capt. James T. John, a daughter
of Mr. Henry M. John.
We think the . history incom
plete in one particular. Col. John
G. Blue, of this" county, was
president for a short time imme
diately after the civil war, if we
are not mistaken. We know he
lived at the college a few years
before he went to Marion Court
House. Col. Blue moved from
what is now the R. E. Lee farm
to Floral College.
In this connection we would
note that our little county of
Scotland ti$td almost as much to
do with the success of Floral as
did Robeson, as among its trus
tees and faculty are many names
of Scotland county people. 1
Very little had been done in
North Carolina for edu
cation before 1840. Before that
hi theSJnited States to make re
n 1 . 1
turns or income under the in
come tax law. The law requires
the filing of this report by March
1st, but Mr. Osborne forwarded
his January 5th.
B. G. Credle, New Bern, an
nounces that he will be a candi
date for Congress in the third
district. Mr. Credle, who is a con- time there were no public schools,
federate veteran, say3 if elected few private schools and acade
he will give $3,000 of his yearly mies and very few colleges. Dr.
salary to the Confederate veter- Calvin H. Wiley reported as fol-
to the theatre New Year's night.
Sfre had been given the bracelet
as a Christmas present by her
husband.
An automobile factory with a
picts the story of the days of '61 'capacity of 2.000 machines ner
through and througn.
year will be a new industry at
Ureenviile, s. U.
ans of the district.
Mr. J. R. Houpe, a prosperous
farmer of Iredell county, has
been arrested on a warrant
sworn out by his wife, who al
leges inhuman treatment as the
cause. When arrested Houpe
had on his person a large Colt's
pistol. He assured the officer
that he and his wife had adjust
ed their troubles, but was ar
rested. H. B. Jeffries, a young man
from Buncombe county, recently
went to teach a rural school near
Kinston. Three of the largest
students undertook to whip Jef
fries, and he laid' them all out
They were sons of committemen,
however, and Jeffries lost his job.
Now he is suing for his slary. .
Senator Overman, Monday, in
troduced a bill in the Senate to
prohibit improper and corrupt
lobbying. Under the bill all per
sons or agents who appear before
committees will be required to
register under the bill. Another
bill was to ref und the South the
unconstitutional cotton ! tax of
$65,000,000 that was levied du
ring the civil war.
Mr. M. I. Cloer, of Lenoir,
was called to the door of a cafe
in that city Saturday and shot by
Charlie Barnet't, colored. Bar
nett became incensed at Mr.
Cloer, who had refused to permit
him fo press vhis clothes in "a
pressing room in therear 'of the
shop. After having slight trou
ble with him the negro left and
later returned, finding him in
the cafe. The - wound inflicted
was slight and the negro cap
tured and placed in jail.
lows for 1840 :
No male colleges in the State,
3 ; number female colleges in the
State. 1 ; number academies and
select schools, 141 ; number pri
mary schools. 632.
The male colleges were the
university, chartered 1789; Da
vidson, 1838, and Wake Forest,
1838. The female college was
the Greensboro Female College
(now the Greensboro College for
Women), chartered in 1838, but
not opened till 1847. The acade
mies and select schools were scat
tered all over the State. Salem
Female Academy was the best
known girls' school.
Thus we see that in 1840 there
was not a single woman's college
in operation in North Carolina,
and only one south of the Poto
mac river Wesley an Female Col
lege, at Macon, Ga., Which was
chartered in 1836. It is claimed
that Salem College was in opera
tion at that time, but it was not
chartered as a college till 1866.
The people of the State were
beginning to realize the need of
higher education for women.
Some of the fiiendsyof education
were urging that women teach
erslwere best for primary schools.
The State did nothing, however,
and the burden fell on the various
denominations of the State. The
Methodists were planning to
meet the demand in the.estab
lishment of Greensboro Female
College, but their college had riot
yet been built.
The Presbyterians were the
next denomination to put forth
any effort along this line. They
could send their sons to David
son and to the University to be
educated, but they had no place
to send their daughters.
Robeson cojnty, which had al
ways been a promoter of educa
tion, was the first county to real
ize this need enough to take ac
tion. It had, at this time, the
following schools withinits bor
ders: Lumberton Academy, char
tered 1793; Raft Swamp Acade
my, 1793; Mt." Clio Academy,
1806; Zion Parnassus Academy,
1808, and Pine Grove Academy,
1833.
John Gilchrist, one of the early
promoters of education in that
county, wanted to establish a fe
male college near Centre church,
in one of the Presbyterian sec
tions of the county. Mr. Gil
christ was a graduate of the Uni
versity, having received the A.
B. degree in "1809 and the A. M.
degree in 1312. He was a law
yer by profession and one of the
prime movers in the establish
ment of such a college as I have
just mentioned.
About the year 1840 he began
to secure stock for the establish
ment of "such a college, which he.
named Floral College. Early in
the next session of the Legisla
ture the bill was presented and
passed, January 11th, 1841, for
t'le establishment of Floral Col
lege in Robeson county.
The laws of 1841-1842 give the
charter as follows :
"An act to establish a female
literary institution in the couiity
of Robeson
"Whereas, several persons
have associated themselves to
gether for the purpose of estab
lishing a female literary institu
tion, near Centre church, in the
county of Robeson, and having
subscribed to stock for the pur
pose aforesaid ; therefore Be it
enacted by the General Assembly
of the State of North Carolina,
and it is hereby enacted by the
authority of the same, that Rev.
John R. Mcintosh, Dr. Angus D.
McLean and others, who are for
the purpose aforesaid, be and
they are hereby constituted a
body corporate, by the name and
style of 'Floral College, ' and by
that name shall have perpetual
succession, and a common seal,
and be able and capable to sue
and be sued, to plead and be im
pleaded either in law or equity,
and to acquire, receive, hold,
possess, enjoy and sell, both real
and personal property.
"Sec. 2. Be it further enacted,
That all articles of association
agreed to, and adopted by the
stockholders aforesaid, are here
by incorporated into. this char
ter as a part thereof; and if, at
any time, the company should
be desirous of increasing their
capital for the purpose contem
plated by this charter, the same
may be done at any general
meeting of the stockholders, pro
vided the aggregate capital shall
not exceed fifteen thousand dol
lars. "Sec. 3. Be it further enact
ed, That a president and fifteen
trustees 3hall be annually chosen
by the stockholders, to hold the
appointment for one year, nine
of whom shall constitute a "quo-
rum for the transaction of the
business of the institution.
"Sec. 4. Be it further enacted. -That
the president and fifteen of
the trustees, or a majority of
them, are hereby authorized and
empowered to make, ordain and
establish such bylaws and regu
lations for the government of
said college, and for the preser
vation of order and good morals
as to them may seem expedient
and necessarjvsubject, however,
to the control of the stockholders;
provided, such bylaws and regu
lations shall in no instance be re
pugnant, to the laws and consti- '
tution of the State, and of the
United States, and that in meet
ing of the stockholders, a major
ity, at least, of the stock shall
(Continued on page 3) v