PART
TWO
ESTABLISHED 1899
FIRST BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION
OF HICKORY, N. C.
INCORPORATED Total Assets July 1, 1912 $280,487.48 AUT Tmooo c oT TAL
Total Shares in Force 7,000, Representing a Matured Value of $700,000.00 Has a Record of Over 22 Years without the Loss of a Single Penny
You can join any time by paying back to the beginning of the series. New series open at the beginning of each quarter—January, April, July, October
A Few Reasons Why We Consider Building and Loan
Stock the Best Investment and the Most Practical
Way to Bay, Build or Improve a Home
Our stock pays 6 per cent interest, compounded semi-annually,
payable at maturity, free G( all taxes.
It starts at nothing and repays you SIOO.OO in cash for each share
of stock at the maturity of the series.
It becomes responsible for your SMALL savings and makes
LARGE ones of them.
It will loan you money when you want it and wiil help you build
a home, should you desire it.
It refunds every penny of your paid-in dues if you should with
draw before the maturity of the series.
It is the only way that you can place your small savings in a regu
lar systematic way and realize 6 per cent ccmpotnded semi
annually, FREE OF ALL TAXES.
y •
Call on or write to the Secretary and he will be glad to give you any information concerning the
working of the Association
G. H. GEITNER, President
HICKORY TANNERY'S
BUSINESS PROSPERING
Mr. Chas. H. Geitner a Nation
Wide Authority on Leather.
MANY TONS OF BARK ON HAND.
Mr. Geitner's Ancestors for Genera
tions Have Been in the Tan
ning Business—The Pro
cess of Making Horse
Collars Most In
teresting.
Written for the Democrat by Dr. R. W.
Brown.
Were v:e as a civilized people
forced to Rive up some of our
comforts, amongst the last to be
yielded, would be those things
fabricated from leather, one of
the accessories. There are only
three absolute life necessities,
air, food and water. All else are
only means to promote our com
fort and e >se. Skins or hides
have been used for convenience
or protection since the time
which is probably pre historic.
Aborigin t) war shields and arm
or was made from hides and
skins. Moccasins worn by the
North American Indian were the
first application of leather for
foot wear on this continent.
Daring Biblical times skin« were
removed entire, the legs and
apertures tied, using the neck
opening for filling and discharg
ing fluid. These were called
leather bottles. "Put not new
wine in old bottles," etc. The
early equipages, especilly those
of state, used broad bands oi
leather; attached to the axels, ir
lieu of springs. The early parch
ment was made out of the skii
of a sheep or goat. In ancien
times thongs were used to se
cure sandals.
The origin of tanning is obscun
but probably some skins wer
thrown into a pool of water wher
bark had soaked for some time
and when the skins were re
moved, they were found to b
cnangt-d both in color and tex
tare, Experimentation eventu
THE HICKORY DEMOCRAT
J.' A. Lentz
aliy brought tanning to an art,
and r.o where in the United
i States is the art of tanning car
I ried on so scientifically and so
successfully as in the Hickory
Tannery, owned and manipulated
1 under direct supervision of Mr.
Chas. H. Geitner. Mr. Geitner's
great-great-grandfather, great
grandfather, grandfather and
• his father were all tanners. The
cumulative experiences of his
' ancestors, added to his own, has
made Mi. Geitner a national
authority on the subject of tan
ning. Many times he has been
asked for information, by other i
tanners of this country, whp
were unable to solve many intri
cacies incident to leather manu
?acture.
! Whether the tanning process
, is mechanical or chemical or both
j we do not know, but tannic acid
fis absolutely necessary. Tanic
acid is a very powerful styptic.
It coagulates the blood and must
j also have the same effect on
1 animal tissues, as all hides and
s skins have a certain amount of
a residual blood. Mangrove bark
I nas tne largest per cent of tanic,
25 per cent, and oak bark 11 per
' cent, A iquid extract is made
3 from the bark containing 25 per
B cent tannin, 7 per cent solids and
68 per cent water. A cord of
r oark makes one barrel of liquid
extract. After the hides are
p properly cleaned, they are put
A in vats. For light leather and
k lace leather 6 or 7 days in the
vats is sufficient, but for harness
'A and shoe leather four or five
_ months in the liquid extract is
e necessary to pro lupe the best
e and most durable leather. When
these heavy hides are ready for
n use they contain enough tannin,
, or tanic acid, to increase their
n weight nearly twice as much as
before tanning.
I Oak and Hemlock barks are
"" used, but the oak bark gives the
. p best results and is used exclusive-
Z ly by the Hickory Tannery, which
Z uses 500 tons of bark a year,
e $1500.00 worth of tan bark oi
p ' 1500 tons is kept on hand con
>e stantly. This tannery turns oul
600 sides each week, employing
u 30 expert workmen during tru
SPECIAL* "TRADE WEEK" EDITION
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J. D. ELLIOTT, Vice-President
S. E. Killian
J. A. Martin A. A. Shuford, Jr.
BAGBY BLACKWELDER, Attorneys
busy season, making leather es
pecially for harness, saddles and
horse collars. Leather for cotton
mills gets special treatment.
This plant covers 4 acres, and
has 7 separate buildings for fire
protection. The main building
is 110 f#»et square, 3 floors. The
main warehouse 70 by 35 feet, 2
floors. A dynamo on the premises
creates all electricity used. All
the liquid bark extract is made
by this concern. The bark shed
h Ids 1500 tons Of oak bark and
is kept filled.
Hickory is well represented in
I the tanning business, and main
tains ifs superiority as long as
Mr. Chas. H. Geitner owns and
controls the Hickory Tannery.
It would well repay any one to
visit this manufactory owned by
Chas. H. Geitner and P. A. Set
zer. While the building is not
very large it is far from being
small. Every thing is very con
venient and the best machinery
is used. At one end the leather
is cut similar to a tailor cutting
cloth for a coat. When the
peices are sewed together they
' have the shape of an elongated
1 cupid's bow but very much
' thicker. After sewing by ma
-1 chine and the proper reinforce
ment by hand, an employee
I shoves a steel tube into one end,
- and almost before you can say
t Jack Robinson a machine stuffs
I the collars full of properly pre
s pared rye straw, then a trip
3 hammer gives the proper con-
J tour to the padding. Another
s chap puts the stuffed "cupids
t bow" into a machine which gives
i it the shape of a horse collar
r with all the wrinkles ironed
» out.
r By this time it looks like a
s horse collar. Other rapid work
men put on.the finishing touches,
5 color, buckles, straps, etc. Then
e the collar is ready for the shops
- and Mr. Horse,
h £fThe leather goeslinto the build
ing at one end ae moist leather
r and goes out the other end per
i- fectly dry, a perfect horse col
t lar.
u . All the machines are run by
• electricity, and the pressure of a
HICKORY, N. C., THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 1912
foot starts or stops a machine.
While this concern is owned by
Mr. Geitner and Mr. Sstzer, the
latter has supervision over the
plant and the details of the busi
ness. The Hickory Horse Collar
Manufactory is well worth visit
ing.
Dr. Johnson Rings Clear on Hell.
Charity and Children.
According to the Raleigh
Christian Advocate, a Bible stu
dent association has decided that
there is no hell and calls on min
isters and newspapers to start a
crusade against the doctrine.
These fceaidless bovs, whose
brains are as scant as their
beard, are not the only wiseacres
who pitched the Bible overboard.
All down through the ages these
smart alecs have risen from time
to time to tell the world the
straight thing about eternal pun
ishment; but the hammers wore
themselves out and the anvil re
mained. The safe and wise sen
sible thing is to take the Bible as
it stands and not try to read in
to its pages a meaning that suits
the depraved natures that resent
the infliction of the punishment
their sins deserve. The doctrine
of hell has helped to restrain the
unruly and keep the world from
sinking into its own corruption.
At at. Timothy's
The St. Timothy Home and
Foreign Missionary Society will
meet at the church Sunday at 3
p. m. There will 'be a special
program-rendered which will be
> interesting. The public is in
' vited.
I F. K. ROOF, Pastor.
P. L. MILLER, Pres.
i
Reformed Church.
• Regular services next Sunday
1 at the usual hours. At the morri-
J ing service Rev. I. N. Perghtel.
D. D., of Pa., will preach.
r The United states g*ves an
- nually $80,000.00 to support the
- national gnard of this state.
$25,000.00 of this amount is for
/ rifle practice. The U. S. owns
\ the rifle range.
DIRECTORS:
C. H. Geitner
THE BLOWING ROCK
COUNTRY POPULAR.
Hickory is the Gateway to this
Beautiful Sky Land Section.
FAMOUS ROCK OF BLOWING.
Faithful work of Dr. Savage who is
about to Leave after Ten years i
of Service—Hickory People
at the Blowing Rock
Hotel.
(By Old Hurrygrapli)
Green Park Hotel, Green Park,
N. C., Aug. 5. —Hickory is the
gateway to the most beautiful
section of North Carolina. The
Blowing Rock country, 4,300 feet
skyward, up through the clouds,
is the Switzerland of America in
beauty and picturesque grandeur.
It is the El Dorado of nature's
health stores; the elysium of de
lightful breezes; invigorating
air, so exhilarating that a charm
ing and talented lady guest of
the Green Park hotel says she
feels as if she were "breathing
champagne"; refreshing ice cold
water from mountain springs.
The famous blowing rock is
one of the wonders of nature. It
is on the top of a precipitous
mountain, near the Green Park
hotelr some 300 feet or more in
height, and overlooks a vast gulf
of mountain tops, valleys, dales
and coves; with breezes blowing
in from the great and grand ex
panse sufficient to blow back to
the rock any ordinary light
thing thrown over the rock
precipice. The small ciearings,
mountain farms and home, nest
ling here and there as far as the
eye can reach, look like a patch
work quilt spread in a rugged
manner upon the heaving bosom
of nature. Before the delighted
and awe-inspired beholder, in
the distance, stands the majestic
Grandfather mountain, towering
skyward, silent and sublime;
with chain after chain of moun
tains that link themselves 'in
colorings from a dark green
Something New in the Way
of Lump Investment
If you have money that is not netting you (free
from all taxes)five per cent, per annum, it will be well
for you to investigate our new class of stock known
as . -
Dividend-Bearing Advance
Payment Stock
which nets you five per cent, per annum,payable quar
terly, and is sold for SBO.OO per share.
G. R. WOOTTEN, Secretary and Treasurer
W. B. Menzies
shading into an invisible blue
that melts into the azure of the
sky, and looks to the imaginative
tye. like a cerulean pathway
beyond the clouds. At every
turn in this delightful country
there are natural pictures of
beauty that causes the sense of
admiration to revel in the
glories of a "hand Divine,"
that has placed here such a
wealth of mountain scenery, and
surrounds it with such rarefied
air, and pure crystal water. It
is indeed an enchanting land. It
must be seen to be appreciated.
THE MOUNTAIN ROADS.
The roads in the mountains
are now in the best condition
they have been, possibly this
season. Some of them have been
worked lately and are better
than ever. Automobiles from
Lenoir are making three trips a
day easily; and it is no
mon sight to see from five to
eight surries in a line coming up
the mountain, with from four to
five passengers each —people
coming to enjoy the delights of
this beautiful and healthgiving
country.
A DELIGHTFUL AFFAIR.
"The Fountain," the home of
Cant. W. D. Jones, in the "Hap
py Valley," nine miles from Le
noir, is one of the old co
lonial, happy homes, so full of
crenerous hospitality and rich his
toric lore, was the scene of a
charming social affair last Tues
day. The gracious hostess was
Miss Lily Jones, and the occasion
was a birthday dinner, compli
mentary to her mother, Mrs. W.
D. Jones, and her cousin, Miss
McCampbell, of Birmingham,
Ala., who is on a visit to "The
Fountain." The birthdays of
the two ladies fell on tb* same
day. The event was cd brated
in a delightful manner. A num
ber of guests from Lenoir and
Hickory enjoyed the hospitality
of this delightful home.
GOOD PREACHING.
The people of Blowing Rock
are enjoying a season of good
preaching every Sunday. For
Democrat and Press Consolidated 1905
several Sundays Rev. James I.
Vance, of Nashville, Tenn., who
has a cottage here, has been de
lighting large congregations in
the Presbyterian church, from
the rich store house of his able
and brilliant mind. His brother,
Rev. Jos. A. Vance, of Detroit,
Mich., is also here, and has tak
en part in some of the services.
Both are North Carolinians who
have made great reputations for
ability in the service of their
Master.
The Episcopalians have a de
vout and faithful worker in Rev.
W. H. Savage, rector of The
Church of the Holy Spirit, the
church of such peaceful restful
ness on the mountain aide. Rev.
H. R. Maliinckrodt, of Charlotte,
preached there an able sermon
last Sunday to an appreciative
congregation. Mr Savage filled
an appointment at Boone. Mr.
Savage has been in Blowing
Rock ten years and he tells your
correspondent that he contem
plates going to Roanoke Island,
probably this fall, to work among
the life-saving stations, a field he
formerly filled and where he
longs to work again. He has
one of the finest collections of
Indian arrow heads and other
Indian curios I have ever seen;
together with fine specimens oi'
minerals—most of them picked
up in this Blowing Rock country.
He took a special prize at the
Jarre >town exposition for having
one of the best there.
HICKORYITES AT BLOWING ROCK
HOTEL.
J. L. Biddle, Dr. Biddix. Wil
liam Council!, Eck Abernethy.
Miss. Ruth Abernethy, Miss
Alice 4bernethy, Mrs. J. A.
Lentz, Miss Frances Lentz.
Chicken Smothers in Heart of Melon.
Kinston Special in News & Observer.
A half-grown chicken pecked
its way into the heart of a water
melon in a Jones county barn
yard this week and smothered to
death. M. L. Jones, a well
known farmer, declares that the
chicken had gone so deeply into
the melon that only its feet were
sticking out.
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