THE DANBURY REPORTER.
VOLUME XXXIII.
ASSESSMENT Oh PROPERTY.
A Stokes County Tax Assessor Sug
gests A Few Thoughts Along
This Line- Wants A More
Equal Valuation.
Mr. Editor :
If you will give a little space in
your valuable paper, I want to
suggest a few thoughts in regard
to the assessment of property.
There is some complaint that
some land is valued too high, or
that a majority is valued too low.
For instance, here is a man who
h(js purchased a piece of land for
$1 ,000 —it being the year to assess
said piece of land—the assessors
say SI,OOO is the true cash value
of said laud and list it for SI,OOO.
Here is another man who owns a
piece of land adjoining this piece,
t which is worth just ae much as
the first, but was purchased, say
20 years ago. This man's land is
valued at SSOO or less. Where is
any justice in it ? Yet, I know of
just such cases.
Now, no one wants an equal
ization of the value of property
for taxation more than I ; and I
don't know of any better way than
for all list-takers and assessors to
follow the requirements of law
regulating the same. The law
seems to be very plain on this
point. The law says in Sec. 13 of
Machinery Act, session 1907 :
"Real property shall be valued by
the assessors either from actual
view or from the best information
that the assessors can practically
obtain, according to its true value
in money. In determining the
value the assessors shall consider
as to each piece, its advantage or
disadvantage of location, quality
of soil, quantity of standing tim
ber, water privileges, mines, min
erals, quarries, or othor valuable
deposits known to be available
therein and their value." Section
14i says "The intent and purpose
of the tax laws of this State is to
have all property and subjects of
taxation fairly assessed at their
true value in money in such man
ner as such property and subjects
are usually sold, but not by forced
sale thereof, and the words "mar
ket value" or "true value," when
ever in the tax laws, shall be held
and deemed fc» mean what the
property and subjects would bring
at cash sale when sold in such
mauuer as such property and sub
jects are usually sold." Section
17 aays "The board of list-takers
and assessors shall make a com
plete return of their assessments,
embracing an abstract of the tax
able property of their respective
townships to the board of county
ojm mission era on or before the
second Monday in July, and an
nex the following affidavit, sub
scribed and sworu to before a jus
tice of the peace, who shall certify
the same : We, the list-takers and
assessors of township,
county, make oath that the fore
going list contains, t> the best of
our knowledge and belief, all real
and personal property required by
law to be assessed in said township
and that we have assessed every
tract or parcel of land or other
real and personal property at its j
true value in money, aud hive en- j
deavored t > do equal justice to the
puplic and to the taxpayers con- j
oerned.
B.foro tntering upon the dis
charge of the duties of their office,
they shall also tako and subscribe
tbs following oath before the
chairman of the board of county
commissioners for their respective
counties, or som > officer qualified
to administer oaths : I, , list-1
taker (or assessor) of town-1
* ship, county, do solemnly j
swear (or affirm) that I will dis
charge the duties devolving upon !
me as list-taker or assessor accord
ing to the laws in force governing 
said office, s > help me God.
Sec. 20 aays list-takers aud as-,
seasors shall not be entitled to pay
unless they have performed the
labor and made return in strict
compliance with the law.
Now brother list-takers and as
sessors what will you do V Will
you list property at its true value
in money, or will you disregard
the law and assess the property at
one-third or one-half value ?
If real and personal property
are assessed at one-half true value,
then money and solvent credits
ought also. Let us hear from a
number of you, setting forth your
views, not only list-takers and as
sessors, but anyone who may feel
so disposed. It is a matter which
concerns us all. I write this with
the best feeling to all, not wishing
to wound the feelings of any farm
er, list-taker or assessor. My only
object is to fiave an equalization
of property values, that the peo
ple may share equally, the taxes
to support our government.
LIST-TAKER AND ASSESSOR.
MAY SHARE IN INDIAN FUND.
Number Of People Are Of Indian De
scent -But All, No Matter How
Remote Their Ancestory, Are
Entitled To Claim.
Asheville, May 17.—The state
ment that persons who had in
their veins any Cherokee Indian
blood should file application with
Commissioner Guinn Miller, in
Washington, D. C., in order to
Bhare in the proceeds of the sale
of valuable timber lands in the
Cherokee reservation in the ex
treme western part of this State,
attracted attention from a number
of people.
In fact a great many more peo
ple are directly interested than
would be supposed. Not only are
the members of the eastern band
of Cherokee Indians entitled to
share in the proceeds but a con
siderable number of people in
Buncombe, Madison and other
counties, because of the fact, little
known, that they are unquestion
ably part Indian.
Major Rollins states that there
are in this and Madison counties
well known families whose mem
bers can trace their ancestry in
part to Indians. Some are proud
of this Indian blood, others are in
different, and still others are un
aware of it. As anyone is entitled
to share in the fund no matter bow
remote his descent from some In
dian man or woman and as many
marriages of Indians and Cau
casions took place nearly a cen
tury ago it can readily be seen
that there will be hundreds of
white people entitled to a share
in the fund. These should apply
to the Commissioner for blanks.
SPECIAL FOR VETERANS.
Southern To Operate Through Train
To Richmond. Va.
The Southern railway will op
erate a speciel train for the accom
modation of Confederrte Veterans
who wish to attend the reunion at
Riceuiond, Va. It will leave
Huntersville, near Charlotti, at 0
a. m., oh the 29th inst., coming via
Mocksville, passing Winston-Sa
lem at 9:25, a. m*., and running
through to Richmond from Wins
ton. Fare for round trip S4.GO.
Tickets good to return until June
11th.
Verdict In Favor Of Martin.
The suit of E- L. Martin vs. T.
B. Knight, administrator of W. L.
Fallin, deceased, which was tried
in the Superior court here last
week and week before, ended Fri
day afternoon, the jury deciding
in favor of the plaintiff. The de
fendant will probably appeal to
the Supreme court. Something
over $3,000 is involved in the suit.
Mr. R. F. Bondurant, of Fran
cisco, was here on business Sat
urday.
DANBURY, N. C., MAY 23, 1907.
MR. OLIVER REPLIES TO "1861."
He Propounds Some Questions—
Thinks "186r Has a Little
Hatred In His Heart For Both
Republican and Democrat
ic Government.
Mr. Editor :
My old friend "18>1" arrogates
|to himself the honor of proving
: what has been an open secret for
j 4(> years, and also frankly acknowl
j edged in open court (Reporter
! April 18th). Verily he would make
!us a fine Solicitor to succeed Mr.
J Graves, as it is very important
that all our criminals be brought
to justice. lam glad that I have
some right respectable company
in my sad condition, under the
j condemnation of our expert so
licitor. Please hear Gen. R. E.
! Lee for a moment : "I look upon
secession as anarchy. If I owned '
I four millions of slavos in the
South, I would sacrifice them all
to the union." See James D. Mc-
Cabe's life of Gen. Lee, page 30.
Did R. E. Lee hate our , beloved
Southland ? I had a brother-in-1
law in the war. My sister was left
with three little children to pro
vide for. I said then "I would
not see my sister's condition for
all the slaves in the South." This
curse was one among, perhaps hun-,
dreds of thousands. lam not sur
prised that the "water was un
comfortably warm" for my friend
aud caused him to wiggle. Lot me
warm it up again and perhaps he
will wiggle sufficiently strong to
Hop out of his trouble. Do yon
remember how the mass of. our
people were excited anil enraged
by the leaders in 18(11 ? Let me
: tell you. Reports were current
that "booty and beauty" were
written upon the standards of the
Federal army. That the Yankees
are comiug to destroy all the men
and ugly women, take our lands
and the fair women and occupy
j our country. They said it would
be only a breakfast spell to whip
| the Yankees. Some said in their
! public speeches that they would
agree to wipo up all the blood that
would be sued in the war with a
pocket handkerchief. Thousands
J of our people were lead to halieve
; these statements, and in a moment
jof excitement, onlisted in tho
army. Who but a coward would
have failed to volunteer, believing
this stilt!' t I had a good friend
j living in Stokes who believed
i these statements and encouraged
his sons to volunteer. I said to
him oue day "it is not safe to be
lieve all we hear." I saw that' he
took offense at ray suggestion and
I said no more. This was in 18(51.
| In 1864 I met him again. He took
me away out in the bushes and
j said, "are you of the same opinion
i about the war you was when I saw
' you last ?" I replied, "so far as I
j know my mind has not changed."
He said "I um with you now."
This man gut his eyes opened in
three years, and here is my old
friend "1801," after 4(i years ex
perience and observation, is still
as blind as a but. lain reminded
of the man who was going to mill
on horseback with corn in one end
of the sack and balanced by a rock
in the other end. He met a friend
who seeing the situation, said,
why don't you divive the corn and
throw the rock away, he replied,
"this is the way dady done." This
illustrates the condition of thous-!
ands of our people today.
I suppose the tax-payers of
Stokes do not want you in the!
"saddle" any more, unless you can
do better riding than you did a
few years ago when you were in
the saddle. You doubtless l ave
not forgotten the fact that our 1
oounty treasury got so low that
county claims could not be paid
and if you must have the money,
you had to sell your claim con
siderably below par, And what R
racket we did have among the
riders as to who was to blame,
Our people got tired of such a
condition, put a new class in the
j saddle, men who could and did
take care of their own business,
and consequently could and did !
take care of the county's interest.
In a few years they paid off the
•indebtedness of the county anil
saved up two or more thousand : |
dollars with which to begin conn- f
ty improvements,
You have intimated that I am 1 j
not houest. Will you please give \
us a lecturer on honesty and fair;.
dealing, not only in politics, but (
iu our business affairs. I waut to
be right and to do right, you *
might be quite helpful to many of
us poor sinners. You seem not to |
see or know any difference be- (
tween a principle and a natue ? It
j might be well for you to call in J
j two or three of your confidential (
, friends and see if you can learn to, {
| call a spade a spade, a plow a (
I plow, etc. Please answer these |
few questions. What is Democ- (
racy ? Since you give a satis-! (
factory answer now reconcile this
| explanation with the bill offered
in our last legislature proposing to J (
(change the county officials of j
| Stokes. How many Yankees did
: you kill daring the civil war ? We
cannot expect a definite answer, j
| you may approximate. How many ,
j negroes did you lose' by the ab- |
| olition of slavery ? Was slavery
as it existed in the States morally ,
right ? Wa3 secession morally and
! legally right ? Was there any i
| justifiable cause to withdraw from !,
j the union when the States se-;
j ceded ? You praise Southern val-1.
or, and justly so, can you praise
the judgment of the people in the 1
cause they pursued ? Now, Mr. |
Solicitor, in your cross ex&mina-1
tion please look into your own
j heart and see if there is not at
least a little hatred towards the
| best Republican or Democratic
! government in the world.
P. OLIYER.
The Straw berry Crop Short.
Wilmington, May 15.—Reports
from the strawberry belt are to the
i effect that the crop is yielding
i very short, but that indications are
for a much longer shipping season
| than usual. Thus far, the ship
ments by refrigerator cars, accord
! ing to the official reports from the ■
junction office at Rocky Mount,
have less than 250 car loads, where
|as at this time last season more
jthan a thousand cars had gone
forward of a normal yield of
about 1,800 cars, as a total crop.
The movement has only one day,
May 7, reached the volume of 25
cars, whereas last year at this time
the daily report from Rocky
j Mount indicated from 75 to 100
cars daily.
There is encouragment, how
ever, iu the report from the berry
territory that the season this year
! will consist of practically two;
crops, one made before the late
freeze in April, and the other fruit,
made after the freeze, the latter
being of the much better quality,
and therefore commanding a high- j
er price. It is stated that the ,
shipping season this year will ex
tend over a period of from six to ,
eight weeks, wheroas in 190(i it ,
was profitable to ship for only ,
about four or five weeks. ,
The prices, as a general rule,
have held up very well, indeed,
and the shippers generally seem
to have no kicks on that score.
There are over three million!
telephones in use in the United
J States.
DON'T PAY ALIMONY
.
|to be divorced from your appen
dix. There will be no occasion!
for it if you keep your bowels
regular with Dr. King's
| New Life Pills. Their action is so
gentle that the appendix never!
has cause to make the least com
i plaint. Guaranteed by all drug-,
i mats. 25c. i
ROCKINGHAM IS COMING.
! The County Fathers Purchase Machin
ery and Will Begin Macadamiz
ing the Roads June I—Madi
son To Have New Ware
house—Other News.
Tho Rockingham Commissioners j
met in Weutwortli last Thursday
for the purpose of taking up the
matter of purchasing road ma
chinery. They purchased the
following: One ten ton " Kelly" j
steam roller, one No. 1 steel !
"Champion" rock crasher, eleva- ]
tors, screens, etc., one gasoline en- j
gine, four dump wagons, oue i
sprinkler and in fact all the nec |
essary machinery to commence j
building first ehiss macadam roads
the first of June. Nothing the!
people have heard recently pleas-'
es them quite as much as the news
that our county is waking up from j
the long sleep »f inactivity and j
unprogressiveness. With well
built macadam roads binding ev
ery section and the blessings that j
always follow such roads, the fa- j
tare of our county is indeed bright.
Miss Rhoda Adams, of Walnut
Cove, is visiting Miss Mary Lew
ellyn this week.
Mr. Tom Frank Webster is
pushing his now dwelling to com
pletion, aud will soon have it
ready for occupancy. The Webster
boys, like their father, Robert P.,
are hustlers from start to finish,
and deserve all they get.
Superior Court convenes June]
10th. This is for the trial of civil
cases only and it is thought that!
onough work has beeu placed on
the calendar to consume the two
weeks. His Honor Garland S.
Ferguson judge presiding.
Rev. S.'S. Oliver and family re
turned to West Y r a. Tuesday, after
visiting his mother near town for
several days.
It is more than probable that j
Madison will have three tobacco I
warehouses iu operation the com
j ing season. We think that J. M.
Taylor, of Stoneville, is making
arrangements to have a new house
built here and operate same. It
will be probably built by Mrs. C.
B. McAnally and located on the
corner of Hunter and Market
street, opposite the old Scales
| dwelling.—Madison Herald.
SENATOR SIMMONS RESIGNS
Executive Committee Need Not Elect
Chairman Until the Convention
Meets.
A letter from Senator Simmons
to a friend in Asheboro within the
last few days says that he cannot
consent to retain the position of
Chairman of the State Executive
Committee longer although his
interest in party affairs will not be
less than it has always been. He
thinks he ought to resign and
needs the time which he has to
give to party affairs to devote to
his duties as senator. Replying to
the suggestion that he wait until
the next convention before resign
ing, Sonator Simmons says he
prefers to resign now, and if the
committee does not desire to elect
his successor now as there are no
active duties to perforin except to
call a convention, the secretary
can perform those duties and the
election of his successor can be
postponed until the convention
meets and appoints a new com
mittee,
Stuart and Consent, Va., played
ball at the latter place Saturday,
the score resulting in a tie—six
and six.
To The People Of Stokes County.
I hereby announce myself a
candidate on the Republican tick
et for Sheriff's otHce in lUOB, sub
ject to the will of the convention.
Yours very respectfully,
D. A. SIMMONS.
Briefs Adrift.
Mr. T. H. Ferguson, of Sandy
Ridge, was a Danbury visitor Sat
urday.
Mr, and Mrs. J. W. Pitzer, of
Red Shoals, visited in Danbury
I Thursday.
Deputy Sheriff Robert S. Cole
j man, of Peter's Creek township,
was here Saturday.
Mrs. C. M. Jones and Miss
Agnes Johnson visited Walnut
Cove Saturday.
Justice of the Peace G. G. Shel
ton, of Sn»w Creek township, was
here on business a short while
Friday.
Judge G. S. Ferguson, who had
been holding court here, went
over to Moore's Springs Thursday
to spend a few days.
Messrs. John Frans and Ed
Smith, who have been attending
school here for some time, return
ed to their homes near Francisco
the past week.
The wheat crop appears to be
fairly good at present, and if
weather conditions are favorable
from now on the yield will probab
ly be up to the average in this
section.
Mr. and Mrs. Jason Key, of
Lexington, and Mr. Jas. Crews,
accompanied by his sister, Miss
■Floss Crews, of Kernersville, spent
Friday night at the home of Mr.
and Mrs. A. W. Davis, They were
on their way to the Baptist asso
ciation at Big Creek,
The two prisoners, Jno. Mabe,
white, and DeWitt Lash, colored,
sentenced at the recent term of
i court to the Rockingham county
roads for six and two months re
: spectively, were carried to Reids
ville the past week by Deputy
1 Sheriff A. W. Davis. Robt. Smith,
an insane man who has been con
fined in jail here, was carried to
Raleigh the past week by Sheriff
Petree and placed in the criminal
insane department of the Pen
j itentiary,
MEADOWS HAPPENINGS.
Sunday School To Be Organized At
Bethel Church—Meadows and
Pink Grove To Play Ball-
Other News.
Meadows, May 20.—A Sunday
School will be organized at Bethel
Baptist church here next Sunday,
the 2(>th inst.
I hero will bo a match game of
baseball played between the Pink
Grove and Meadows teams, on the
latters ground, Saturday, May 25.
A good game and a large crowd is
expected.
Quite a number of young people
visited at tho home of Mr. Glide
well last Sunday, Among them
were Messrs. Frank Southern,
Robt. Hill, Louis Hicks, Ollio
Hicks, Joe Wall, John Covington,
and Misses Ethel Sands, Francis
Covington and others.
Mr. Johnnie Hicks, of High
Point, visited his mother at this
place Sunday.
A tomb stone man passed
through Meadows a few days since,
It is learned that he was on his
way to Danbury to erect a mon
ument over the grave of the Dan
bury baseball team.
There will likely bo a wedding
here soon as was seen
riding with a lady Sunday. Tho
preacher was not far behind.
Hurry up, Lncle Bony, or Georgo
will beat you in spite of your new
derby.
This correspondent is of the
; same opinion as Mr. Blair in ro
gard to writing so much about
'broad smiles.' The expression
has lived to a ripe old age and it
is time it was dead. The people
j are getting tired of it.
i AFTER.
No. 15