HENDERSONS
POPULATION
13,873
twenty-sixth year
LIQUOR REFERENDUM BILL IS VOTED DOWN
Coast Guard
Mere Denied
Extra Plane
Congress Also Asked
More Money for Ve
nereal Control in
State; M oonshiner s
Declared Uncurbed
By Return of Liquor in
This State
Washington, Feb. 24.—(AP)—The
House Appropriations Committee to
day rejected a Treasury Department
request for $177,000 to provide for an
additional long-range plane for the
coa t gu;>rd eir base now under con
struction at Elizabeth City, N. C.
The committee, in reporting the
annual Treasury appropriation bill
to the House, carrying money for the
coast guard, said the one long-range
plane already authorized for the sta
tion would be adequate. It pointed
out funds were available to assure
two .small planes, two of inter
mediate type and one of the long
range character at Elizabeth City.
Rear Admiral R. R. Waesche, coast
guard commander, asked the addi
tional long range planes as a safety
measure.
Venereal Scourge Growing.
Meanwhile, Dr. Carl Reynolds,
North Carolina State health officier.,
asking Congress to appropriate addi
tional funds to stamp out ‘’this dread
ed monster syphilis.” In a letter pub
lished in hearings on the Treasury
Department’s appropriations bill, Dr.
Reynolds estimated there were 300,-
000 syphilis and 750,000 gonorrhea
cases in North Carolina.
New cases were said to be report
ed at the rate of 4,000 a month. He
declared available funds would be
“wasted” if additional money was not
provided.
Moonshiners Back at It.
Also, the “same boys” who made
(Continued on Page Two)
Daladier Is
Given Vote
Upon Franco
Paris, Feb. 24. —(AP) —The Cham
ber of Deputies today gave Premier
Daladier a vote of confidence, sup
porting his decision to ask the cab
inet Monday to grant full recognition
to the nationalist government of
Spain. The vote was 323 to 251.
The vote, which Daladier made a
question of cbnfidence, was on the
government’s demand that interpel
lations by the leftist peoples front in
regard to recognizing General Fran
(Continued on Page Three)
Charlotte
Trip Help
For Solons
Little Important Bus
iness Done, But It
Broadened Minds of
Easterners About
Great Piedmont Sec
tion
Daily Dispatch Bureau.
In the Sir Walter HoteL
By LYNN NISBET
Raleigh, Feb. 24.—Yesterday’s ses
f ions of the legislature, held amid
the familiar surroundings of the an
cient Capital in Raleigh, were less
colorful but more orderly than Wed
nesday’s sessions held in Mecklen
burg county court house. Some
what more work was'done, but the
members didn’t enjoy it anything
like as much.
The Charlotte trip had been anti
cipated for more than a month. It
will be remembered for many, many
years. Whatever gods there are in
control of weather, train schedules,
nnd the general happiness of legis
lators were on the job full time
Wednesday. Pre-arranged plans
went through with perfection. Even
the tacit agreement that just as lit
tle work as possible would be at
tempted and *as much fun as pos
(Continued on Page Four)
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Ll nn?S D *SERVICE OF
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.
French Colonials Ready for Action in Tunisia
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On parade in Tunis is a detachment of French colonial troops in Tunisia. All French garrisons in the
African colony, where many such native detachments are stationed, are reported standing by, ready for
instant action Against possible Italian invasion.
Stiff Warning to Dictators
Given by British Secretary
Told Not To Under-
Estimate Britain’s
Pledge of Aid to
France During War;
Italian Colonial De
mands Cited
London, Feb. 24. (AP) Great
Britain has put forth one of the
strongest warnings she has yet made
to the dictator nations of Europe.
Foreign Secretary Viscount Halifax,
who has been mostly on the side
lines, while his close friend, Premier
Chamberlain, dictated foreign policy,
used this striking phrase in a state
ment to the House of Lords last
night:
“Halt! Major road ahead.”
The statement, it was felt here,
was a warning to other powers not
to under-estimate Chamberlain’s re
cent pledge that in the event of wa?
Britain would go to the defense of
France.
It was interpreted also as an ob
vious hint to Italy that that country’s
thus-far undefined demands upon
France for colonial territory con
stitute Europe’s major war threat.
Lord Halifax told the upper house
that Britain could make no move to
ward mediation “unless and until
both parties desire it.”
“In one sense,” he said, “it is a
(Continued on Page Four)
BRITISH SHIP WITH
REFUGEES ASKS AID
London, Feb. 24.— (AP) —A
Reuter’s (British) News Agency
dispatch from Algiers today said
the 2,431 -ton British freighter
African Trader, carrying refug
ees from Spain, had sent an SOS
from a point 18 miles northeast
of Orarh, Algeria.
First accounts of the freight
er’s call for help were merely
that she had reported herself
in distress.
Whole State
Involved In
Local Bill
Daily Dispatch Bureau,
Ip the Sir Walter Hotel.
By LYNN NISBET
Raleigh, Feb. 24.—There is noth
ing unusual in statewide acts being
proposed and passed just to take care
of one purely local condition, but
the Archdale-Trinity sanitary dis
trict in Guilford and Randolph coun
ties is responsible for a proposed act
that has revolutionary implications.
The proposed bill provides that the
State Board of Health may eliminate
part or parts of the corporate ter
ritory of any sanitary district lying
partially in two or more counties.
There isn’t but one such district now,
and that is Archdale-Trinity. The
district was incorporated by the spe
cial session of 1.938 and an election
was called to vote*bonds for match
ing PWA money to install a sewer
(Continued on Page Four).
ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN THIS SECTION OF NORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA.
East Carolina Men
Protest Wage Bill
Raleigh, Feb. 24.—(AP)—Busi
nessmen of Eastern North Carolina
told a joint legislative committee to
day that proposed wage and hour
legislation would ruin their business
Appearing under sponsorship of
the Eastern North Carolina Cham
ber of Commerce, merchants, filling
station operators, lumbermen, saw
mill operators, a bottler and a the
atre operatro assailed pending bills.
N. G. Bartlett, secretary of the
commerce body, summed up the
arguments with the statement: “En
actment of these wage and hour pro
posals would add to the unemploy
ment situation in Eastern North
Carolina tremendously.”
The North Carolina Association of
Building Owners and Operators and
the State Association of Laundry
men also appeared in opposition to
the measures to put a floor under
wages and a ceiling to hours in in-
Contrast In
Labor Share
Os Business
Daily Dispatch Bureau,
In the Sir Waiter Hotel.
Raleigh, Feb. 24.—The finance
committee yesterday heard two as
sharply contrasting sets of figures re
garding labor’s share in gross re
ceipts of two businesses as it is
possible to imagine.
It heard, on the one hand, the
statement of Charles W. Tillett that
64 per cent of all the receipts of the
great Western Union Telegraph Com
pany are spent for labor; while at
the other end of the line it heard
Representative U. S. Page read from
the income tax returns of a North
Carolina headache remedy company
figures indicating that this concern
paid to its employes about 64 per
cent of its gross receipts.
Mr. Page did not name the com
pany, but in the hearing it was clear
ly indicated he referred to the B-C
Remedy Company of Durham, for
which former Congressman Bill Um
stead appeared in opposition to a pro
posal to levy a tax of one cent on
(Continued on Page Two)
WELDER IS KILLED
BY ELECTROCUTION
Kings Mountain, Feb. 24.—(AP) —
Murray Calhoun, 23-year-old engi
neer, was electrocuted late yester
day while working with an electric
welding machine at a gold mine
near here. His father, Henry M. Cal
houn, of Kings Mountain, brought
his son here shortly afterwards.
Physicians worked for nearly two
hours in a futile efofrt to resuscitate
the youth.
Funeral services will be held to
morrow at West River, Md., his form
er home.
HENDERSON, N. C., FRIDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 24, 1939
trastate business, similar to the fed
eral regulations on interstate com
merce.
Bartlett presented the following:
Alex Watkins, lumberman, of Hen
derson, who said the bill would
“cripple the lumber industry”j J. L.
Price Littleton merchant, who said
he would be forced to reduce his
personnel from 12 to six persons;
M. C. McPherson, Littleton bottler,
who said he would be forced out of
business; W. B. Oliver, Jr., Pine
Level merchant; L. E. Mitchell, Lit
tleton sawmill operator; G. S. May,
filling station operator at Littleton;
W. H. Herring, Roseboro lumber
man; J. W. Davenport, Whitakers
lumberman, and W. C. Ormand Ay
den theatre operator.
Davenport said the Federal wage
hour act had forced him to close one
mill and stop any dealings in inter
state commerce.
U. S. Colony
In Brazil Is
Impractical
By CHARLES P. STEWART
Central Press Columnist
Washington, Feb. 24.—Out of the
recent visit paid to this country by
Foreign Minister Oswaldo Aranha of
Brazil there has
been developed as
weird a scheme
as ever I heard of
for the coloniza
tion of thousands
of our unemploy
ed in Senor Aran
ha’s home republic
The scheme pro
bably sounds ra
tional to folk wh.Q
never were nearer
t o Brazil than
Palm Beach (Fla.)
but to anyone who
.. -y im
Oswaldo Aranha
ever has been there—gosh a’mighty!
I do not believe that Senhor Aran
ha ever said this (he has too much
sense), but he is quoted as saying
“Brazil is perfectly enormous.”
Which is true, it is larger than the
continental United States. “Its popu
lation,” Minister Aranha is quoted as
continuing, “is very skimpy.” That
is true, too. It is about 20 percent of
ours, with more than our amount of
room to contain it. “And we are
enormously rich,” proceeds Friend
Aranha, “in undeveloped resources—
(Continued on Page Three)
WEATHER
FOR NORTH CAROLINA.
Tartly cloudy, slightly warmer
in south and east central portions
tonight; Saturday, mostly cloudy.
■ colder in central and north por
tions.
War Supply
Bill Okayed
In Committee
Would Be Used in
Four Years To Buy
Strategic Raw Materi
als; Treasury - Post
Office Supply Bill of
$1,700,471,354 Before
House
Washington, Feb. 24.—(AP)—The
Senate Military Committee approved
unanimously today a bill by Senator
Thomas, Democrat, Utah, authoriz
ing expenditure of $100,000,000 dur
ing the next four years for the ac
quisition of strategic raw materials,
many of which must be imported by
this country.
Senator Thomas said a board, con
sisting of the secretaries of war,
navy, interior and state, would be au
thorized to designate the strategic
materials and would be empowered
to encourage the development of
substitutes for them.
An authorization for a $500,000 ex
penditure during the next four years,
$350,000 by the Bureau of Mines and
$150,000 by the Geological Survey,
also was included to finance the de
velopment of raw materials in this
country.
Although the measure was not in
cluded in the administration’s re
armament program, Thomas said it
was allied closely with it.
“World conditions make this bill
very, very timely,” Thomas said.
Similar measures are pending in the
House.
The House, meanwhile, commenced
work on another big annual supply
bill, a $1,700,071,354 measure to run
the Treasury and Post Office Depart
ments. Although slashed about $28,-
000,000 below the budget estimates
by the appropriations committee,
which has been whacking at money
bills since the session started, the
measure still was about $197,000,000
larger than last year.
Other developments:
Senator Thomas, Democrat, Okla
homa, charged before the Senate
Agriculture Committee that short
sellers of cotton were pressing for
release of government loan cotton in
an attempt to cash in on a price de
cline. The outcome of a modified bill
empowering President Roosevelt to
plan a reorganization of the govern
ment was clouded by Republican op
position, and uncertain as to the at
titude of economy advocates. Repre
sentative Taber, Republican, New
York, said it would give the Presi
dent too much power. Senator Byrd,
Democrat, Virginia, who argues that
the administration’s original program
did not emphasize economy suf
ficiently, withheld comment.
Pope Pius Leaves
Most of Property
■To The Holy See
Vatican City, Feb. 24.—(AP)
L’Osservatore Romano disclos
ed today that the late Pope Pius
XI left all his possessions to the
Holy See except for some per
sonal objects which he instruct
ed be distributed among his
closest assistants.
The Vatican City newspaper
said the pontiff’s last testament
named as his executors his two
private secretaries. It said the
will consisted of a few pages
written in the pope’s own hand.
The first page was dated May 31
1937, and the last January 16,
1939.
Hungary To
Smash Radical
Social Group
Budapest, Hungary, Feb. 24—(AP)
—The government undertook today
to smash the Hungarists, the leading
national socialist party in Hungary
:nd at the same time joined Ger
many, Italy and Japan in their ac
cord against international com
munism.
The anti-comintern pact was sign
ed by the foreign minister at a for
eign office ceremony. The German
minister, Japanese minister and Ital
ian charge d’affaires were present.
The Hungarian Nazi party was
banned as a danger to public safety,
and party property was confiscated.
Nationwide raids on party offices
started at 6 a. m. In Budapest, 600
of the capital’s force of 670 detectives
took part in the raids. The party head
quarters in Andrassy street were
surrounded. Tons of Nazi lierature
(Continued on Page Two)
PUBLISHED EVERY AFTERNOON
EXCEPT SUNDAY.
EXECUTED
~ > % SSsSSnSnfIR ?
Franklin Pierce
McCall Dies
As Kidnaper
Florida Boy
Electrocuted in Flor
ida State Prison Soon
After Pretty Young
Wife Leaves Him
Raiford, Fla., Feb. 24.—AP) —
Franklin Pierce McCall was put to
death in the electric chair today for
the fatal kidnaping of five-year-old
James B. Cash., at Princeton, Fla.,
last May.
The switch was thrown at 11:08
a. m. McCall was electrocuted just
four days short of nine months of
the time he kidnaped the boy.
Admitting in open court that he
alone stole “Skeegie”, and collected
SIO,OGU ransom from the father, Mc-
Call insisted he did not want to harm
his victim, and had smothered him
accidentally.
The execution first was set for last
Monday. Seventy minutes before the
scheduled hour, L. P. Chapman, State
Prison farm superintendent, an
nounced a delay until today. The de
(Continued on Page Three)
A. C. L. OFFICIAL MOVED
Wilmington, Feb. 24. —(AP) —H.
C. Koelz, general road master of the
Atlantic Coast Line railroad at Way
crosse, Ga., is to be transferred to
other duties in Wilmington, it was
announced today at the general of
fices of the railroad here.
Fayetteville Firm
Explains Accepting
Wage-Hour Ruling
New York, Feb. 24.—(AP)—Coun
sel for the Central Weaving and
Spinning Corporation today announc
ed it had consented to the filing of
an injunction restraining it from
violating the wage and hour law
pending a Supreme Court test of the
act. The attorney for the company
said the order would be filed at
Fayetteville, N. C., tomorrow. The
company operates a plant employing
175 to 200 persons at Fayetteville.
Should the Supreme Court rule
ultimately for the company, the at
torney said the injunction automati
cally would be vacated.
Railroad Outlook Again
Brightens Over Country
%
Better Times for Workers and Investors m This
Industry Forecast by Babson as Business Picks
Up; Optimism vs. Pessimism.
BY ROGER W. BABSON,
Copyright 1939, Publishers
Financial Bureau, Inc.
Babson Park, Fla., Feb. 24.—One
of the most interesting points in the
current business picture is the steady
but unpublicized, progress of the rail
roads. A year ago, most people
thought the whole industry was
headed for bankruptcy. Today, there
is a lot of good news coming out
about the carriers. It begins to look
as though they have again weathered
the storm.
I do not need to emphasize the ter
rific importance of this industry to
every man, woman, and child in
America. I can safely say that when
8 PAGES
TODAY
FIVE CENTS COPY
House Group
Opposition
Unanimous
Compulsory Immuni
zation Against Diph
theria Passed by Sen
ate; Finance Commit
tee Hunts $1,500,000
More in Revenue for
State
Raleigh, Feb. 24.—(AP)—The
House Finance Committee this aft
ernoon unanimously gave an unfav
orable report, which usually means
death, to the Withrow bill to pro
vide a statewide referendum on pro
hibition.
The HofV? group met early, be
fore a joint finance session, and act
ed quickly.
The bill would have held a state
wide vote May 6, and if voters ex
press favor for prohibition, sales of
beer, wine and whisky would have
been banned after July 1.
Meanwhile, the Senate passed and
sent to the House the Longlbill to re
quire immunization against diph
theria of all children except those
of religious objectors.
The measure passed on a voice
Two years ago a similar proposal
got Senate approval and was killed
in the House. There has been no
indication what its reception will be
in the lower division this session.
Senators adjourned to meet early
tomorrow morning, at 8:30 o’clock,
then take buses to Washington for
a week-end trip as guests of the
city. The House will hold a “local
bills” session tomorrow. Both di
visions will resume regular business
Monday night.
The joint sub-committee on fi
nance worked hard trying to get
revenue proposals in line which the
lull committee would adopt to raise
about $1,500,000 for the biennium.
The tax bill falls that much below
appropriations approved by a joint
group.
Senators ordered enacted into law
a bill designed to facilitate lease of
(Continued on Page Three)
Air Mail Line
Across State
Is Considered
L
Charlotte, Feb. 24. (AP) A
gi’oup of eastern North Carolina
civic leaders came here today to con
fer with Charlotte officials on pro
posed organization of an aviation
company to provide feeder mail and
passenger service from Wilmington
to Knoxville, Tenn., byway of Char
lotte.
Among the visitors expected were
Oscar Breece, president of the Fay
etteville Chamber of Commerce;
Major L. R. Ashe, Fayetteville bank
er, and that city’s postmaster, W M.
Shaw, and others.
Plans for feeder lines serving Wil
mington, Fayetteville, Lumberton,
Charlotte, Asheville and other points
east of Knoxville have been under
consideration for some time, said
Clarence Kuester, executive secre
tary of the Charlotte Chamber of
Sommerce.
It was understood representatives
of a large aviation firm had been
approached with the proposition and
had shown interest.
we have prosperity in the railroad
business it means more dollars and
cents in the pocket of* every reader.
The fortunes of whole towns and
cities throughout the nation depend
upon the railroads. Coal and iron
mines, steel plants, locomotive and
car shops, lumber mills and paint
factories are just a few of the busi
nesses which prosper when the rail
roads prosper. Then, when they pay
dividends, their investors add to the
national prosperity.
Buying and Hiring.
Hence, it is significant news when
press dispatches read like this: “Or
(Continued on Page Three)