Established 1899
RICHARD LITTLE
RECORD
FOR MILE RUN
MAKES THE COURSE IN 4 MIN
UTES, 12 1-5 SECONDS
Hickory Boy Breaks Both Amateur and Pro
fessional Records on His Privately Con
■#
struct Track Near Connelly Springs on
Wednesday of Last Week —Past Record
as an Athlete—Congratulations.
Richard Little of this city
broke both the amateur and pro
fessional records for the mile
run on his p ivately constructed
track two miles west of Connelly
Springs on Wednesday afternoon
of last week. The time was 4
minutes, 12 1-5 seconds. The
previous records were held by
John Paul Jones, amateur, at 4
minutes. 14 3-5 seconds and the
professional by B. E George of
England, 4 minutes, 13 1 5 sec
onds.
Doctor Mandott of Harvard,
who was present and directed
the physical examination just
before the race said that Little
was at the height of perfection
physically.
Little's record as an athlete is
unimpeachable. He has never
received a penny for his services,
and has run andmade his records
merely as a pastime,
A large crowd was present
from this city. The surround
ing country turned out in full
fere. The husky mountain
farmers placed Little on their
shoulders and carried him two
miles to his dressing quarters,
amid the shouts and cheers of
the crowd.
Seven Harvard men witness
id the meet. Taber of Brown,
who recently ran with Jones
'
if ML- . '^MAJMk;
M a.JA€L'A K^HBHHR
stayed with Little until the last
quarter when Little left him be
tween 60 or 75 yards.
Richard Little is only 20 years
old. and is a son of Mr. and Mrs.
J Pink Little of this city. Mr.
Little volunteered at the early
age of 16, and fought through
many bloody battles in the war
between the states. He was
made Ist. Lieutenunt of the 28th
North Carolina Regiment, which
position he filled with honor.
Richard Little's athletic career
began in 1908 when he was
spending a few days at Lake
Toxaway and here met .Tames
A. Dixson, the great rornell,
runner and trainer. Richard at
that time was only thirteen years
old. In 1911 he won the South
ern Championship for the mile
and in 1912 he won the South
Atlantic Championship for the
hiKh jump, clearing the bar at
s"t. 11 12in. At Cornell last
year he made an unqualified jump
of 6ft. 2 in. which at that time
equaled the best. He qualified
for a strength contest between
Har /ard, Cornell, Columbia,
Yale, and Princeton. He wore
the Cornell colors and caused
her Uftpa to wiu the pennant.
THE HICKORY DEMOCRAT
tie made a percentage of 97
which was as high as has ever
been made for a boy under 20
years of age. In 1911 he was a
student at Lenoir college and
had charge of the track work.
Next year he will be at Harvard.
He has been given the highest
honor possible at this institution.
He was elected captain of the
Harvard track team, which alone
is enough honor to stop on. This
place is conferred only upon
those in the highest standing.
When he dons the Harvard "H"
and goes out on the field next
September to steer his team to
victory it ought to make every
Southerner proud because ■ it is
the first time a Southern b*y
ever filled a captain's p.ace on
any of Harvard's teams.
He should be a grand inspira
tion and model to every North
(Jaroina boy. He has shown
what a boy can do by preserv
ing himself. And the greatest
thing of al l he has demonstrated
that one can be an athlete and a
mental genius also. While at
Lenoir college he had the dis
tinction of being the best Euglish
scholar they had ever had. He
won three of the highest medals
and prizes at this institution in
1911. He has a remarkable
memory having memorized three
of Shakespeare's Plays, includ-1
ing Hamlet; lennys-.n's In Mem
oriam, and the third canto of
Byron's Child Harold.
LIST OF CONGRATULATIONS.
"Allow me to congratulate you on
the grand record you made. It again
brings North CaroliTia- to the front in
gallantry, courage, determination, and
manhood. The same determined spirit
1 that has made you win yesterday, was
ithe embodiment of Vance, Bagley,
1 Whiting and other gallant North Caro-
I linians. Allow me to thank you for the
people o. our entire s.a.e 6^KcRAiG
"I saw your picture in a New York
paper this morning and it made tears of
joy come to my eyes when I read in
large print 'Richard Little of North
Carolina Breaks World Record' Amer
ica is proud of you; North Carolina loves
you. The entire North Carolina dele
gation at Congress will honor you if
you come to Washington I will even
take you around •» jg s W^ y R ' MAN .
"Congratulations on your record.
From experience I feel that it will be a
jony time wUUßaju^Wer
"Accept congratulations for your run.
Hickory should be most proud of you,
your state after that but Cornell must
come next Accept the Aowerc «d
loving cup we are sending as a small
tok en o( -r«.£»» T g^ M
Accept our heartiest congratulations.
We fcel proud that ov»r track captain
HICKORY, N.C., THURSDAY. JUNE 19,1913
COMMENT
Industrial Servitude
We call attention to an article on the
front page of this week's Democrat, on
Freight Rate Discrimination, by Mr. John
Mtchell of the local bar. If you have
been permitting yourself to occupy the
easy going neutral position on this sub
ject, read it and see that in this move
ment, which has for its purpose the up
lifting and bettering of industrial condi
tions in North Carolina, the state has a
right and is demanding of its every citi
izen an enlistment in the cause whose
termination is going to mean onr ulti
mate emancipation from "Industrial Ser
vitude".
It is a beautiful sentiment which we
permit ourselves to indulge in that kin
dles the fires of patriotism to the end
that we may in a proper way honor and
pay respect to the memortes of a patriot
ic ancestry, but more beautiful still are
the happy reminiscences which were
preserved in the lives oi this ancestry,
by memories burdened with the recol
lections of deeds which made possible
the opportunities we have today. The
present generation found Noith Carolina
burdened wilh a system of unjust taxa-.
tion; a system which fastened itself upon
us just at the dawn of our present indus
trial age; one which we have had to
fight at every step and stage of the pro
gress we have thus far made. Shall we
leave this system as a heritage to the gen
eration which is to follow us, the same*
as it was left to us as the heirs of our
predecessors?
Years ago a small tax which was plac
ed by England on American tea, provok
ed the revolts of the "Boston Tea Par
ly", which revolts kindled the spirit of
patriotism thst in the end gave birth to
American Independence. For five years
the railrpads of North Carolina have
been levying a tax burden of $5,000,000.
a year on the people of this state, and
Against this system of taxation there has
only been raised an occasional voice of
Erotest which spoke too weakly to be
eard. Today North Carolina is organ
izing that it may enter an organized pro
test against the grafters' greed. It asks
you for your services. Are you with
the railroads, or are you with the State?
Who Asked for Primary?
The appointment of the postmaster
at tliis place seems to be one of the
greatest problems that Hickory has had
to face for some time. As Mr. Webb
seemed unable to decide who should re
ceive the appointment he made plans
for a letter primary, which is now in
full blast, but this method is proving
very unsatisfactory, as some of the can
didates say only one half of their sup
porters have received a letter from him
and others say at least twenty five of
their men have not received one, while
others say all their supporters have re
ceived letters. This is manifestly un
fair. A number of men who signed ;»
petition for different ones of ihecaudi
dates have not received any notice
that a primary was to be held, and
seem to be surprised when they hear
of it. We would like to know who fur
nished the list of names to Mr. Webb,
for it seems one half the patrons of
this office were omitted. The men on
the rural routes from Hickory are not
included in this primary at all, and
they are very much incensed over it,
as they feel that they are as much en
titled to a vote for the postmaster at
this place as the patrons of the office
who live in the corporate limits and
have their mail delivered by the city
carriers. This looks like there is a
'•nigger in the wood pile" somewhere.
Mrs. Freguson Dead. ~
Mrs. Laura R. Ferguson, widow
of the late Col, W. B. Ferguson,
died at her home in Wavnesville
Saturday evening following an
attack of acute indigestion. Shi>
■vas the mother of Mrs. A. A.
S rnford Jr, of this city.
Mr. and Mrs. J. Bowles, Miss
Ctara and Mr. and Mrs R. W.
Stevenson spent Sunday at their
old home in the country.
shall be a world champion. .It Is grand.
HARVARD TRACK TEAM.
Richard Little Visits Charlotte.
"Richard Little the world's
greatest mile runner was in our
city todav» the only man, or at
least he should be called a boy,
who ever while still an amateur
broke the professional record.
Pressdent Taftfs visit to
| our city did not create much
imore excitement. The Selwyn
lobby was filled with admirers
who wanted to see and touch
him. It must be very annoy
iug to be great, Everywhere
Little went some one was after
him, He wore a plaid cap and
everyone in town wanted a cap
like the champion's. Bv night
there was not a plaid cap to be
had at any of the clothiers.
Many of them had made special
wire orders to fill the demand
"Richard is a model champion
in every respect With all the
honor he has been paid and now
captain of the greatest track
team at the greatest university
in America, having done some
thing no other living human ever
did, with all this he is unassum
ing and entirely void of being
"stuck up". It takes a "man"
to be this way. He is a grand
inspiration to the manhood of
our state; we are proud of him,
just as much so as Hickory is
and when-he runs his last race
lat the great intercollegiate game
i next May Charlotte is going to
1 « be there on a special train,. We
I hope business will bring him
' here many more times this sura
-Charlotte Chronicle.
LOCAL AND PERSONAL
Mr. Fred Murphy spent Satur
day in Newton.
Mr. and Mrs. J. R McGill spent
last Sunday in Chester, S. C.
Dr. J. B. Little and familj of
Newton spent Sunday in this city.
Miss Mary Ramsay has return
ed home from a visit to States
ville. '
Mrs. Banner and son of Greens
boro visited relatives here last
week.
Misses Frank and Rose Martin
are visiting Mrs. 1\ T. Pettus of
Wilson.
Mrs. Walter Martin of Canton
is visiting relative?and friends in
this city.
Mips Ida May Yow of Thomas
ville is visiting Mrs. John M.'
Stephens. . •
The colored ball game, Hickory
vs. Lenoir, resulted in a 2 to 9
victory for Hickory.
Attorney W. A. Self went to
Newton, Monday, to attend to
some legal business.
Mr. and Mrs. James Shuford
and little son took an automobile
ride to Newton Sunday.
Dr. and Mrs. Paul Ingold Mur
rill of Wilmington, Del., are vis
iting Mrs. Ir. R. Whitener.
Mr. J. L, Smith of Gastonia is
spending some time with his
daughter, Mrs. L. B. Gwin.
Miss Maude Abernethy attend
ed commencement at Concordia
College at Conover last week.
Miss Alda Killian is home from
John Hopkins Hospital where she
underwent an operation for ap
pendicitis.
Misses Estelle and Lula Lee
Wolfe left last week for an ex
tended visit to relatives in Mon
roe and Charlotte.
Miss Azalee Davidson of Rich
ard Baker Hospital has returned
home after a visit to her father,
Capt T. M. C. Davidson of States
ville.
Mrs. W. A. and Mas
ter W. A. Rudasill left Tuesday
to visit her parents in Richmond,
Va., Mr. Rudasill will ioin them
later.
Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Garth and
little daughter, Charlotte, are ex
pected home Friday after spend
ing some time visiting relatives
in Tennessee.
We regret very much to learn
of the illness of Mrs. S. F. Wat
son. She was taken to the Ricli
ard Baker HosDital M >nday for
treatment for an attack of appen
dicitis. We hope her a speedy re
covery.
Mr. Oliver Litaker has received
quite a number of letters from
different manufacturers of steel
rails, etc., wanting to furnish
material for the construction of
the electric car line from Hickory
to Henry River. From what we
can learn he and Frank McComb
seem to be perfectly satisfied to
drive the roan horse,
$l5 IN CASH PRIZES
WILL BE GIVEN AWAY
Chance to Secure Cash Prizes by Studying the Advertisements
of Firms in The Hickory Democrat of Today's Issue.
Can You Figure Out "Who is Who?"
An interesting puzzle is represented on the last p age of The
Democrat today, in the "Who is Wiio?" Puzzle advertisement.
This is an opportunity for you to secure a cash award of either
ten or five dollars—just find out Who is Who. ~ %
There are 39 advertisements, business men of Hickory alone
being represented. No names are mentioned in any of the adver
tisements, but in each one will be found suggestions that will aid
one in seeking, whether individual, firm or corporation.
To the person turnishing the most complete and correct list of
names, a cash prize of $lO.OO will be paid.
For the second best list $5.00 will be paid.
In the event that two or more people are tied for the first prize,
then the second prize will be annuled, and the total $l5 00 will be
divided equally among the tying contestants. Each advertisement
is numbered.__ The contestants should set down the number of the
advertisement, following that with the name of the firm of which
he or she believes it implies.
The awards will be made by judges whose names will be an
nounced later. An official list of the advertisers in the "Who is
Who" has been made out and will be used by the judges.
Use one side of the paper and make the list as legible and neat
as possible. Lists may be submitted to this office by mail or other
wise, until noon, June 24. One has equally as good a chance in
submitting lists in the last hour as in the first.
The awards will be announced and the correct names of the ad
vertisers and their business will be published iivThe Democrat
one week from today, June 26th. All lists should be addressed to
"Who is Who" Contest Manager of The Hickory Democrat, Hiclrory,
N. C. Mail or send to this office. The puzzle is open to the world,
and nobody i& barred, Get busy at once and land "Who is Who."
Mrs. Joe Person.
The news of Mrs. Joe Person's
death, which occurred in Santa
Fe, New Mexico, June 12th, has
brought sorrow to the hearts of
many people all over North Caro
lina, as she was well known and
loved throughout the state. For
ty-seven years ago she begun the
sale and manufacture of the well
known remedy which bears her
name, aud her success has been
notable. She was a remarkable
business woman, and it was not
alone that her remedy had merit,
but it was the undaunted spirit of
the woman which had largely to
do with her success, and there
was always a welcome for her
wherever she went.
Mrs. .Person was a woman of
broad views, actuated by the most
generous impulses, and her finan
cial success enabled her to show
her kindness of heart in a practi
cal way. Her capacity for meet
ing and overcoming difficulties
made her a distinctive figure
among women. She had an up
lifting influence upon all with
whom she came in contact. It
was a pleasure to be wito her as
she had such a happy sunshiny
disposition, always an optomist
Mrs. Person had many friends
in Hickory. Her sister, Mrs. J.
B. Beard, left here with her June
7th, to make an extended trip
through the western states and
Canada, hoping the trip would be
beneficial to her,-. On their arri
val in Santa Fe she was taken se
riously ill and only lived a short
while. She leaves three sons and
a daughter, Miss Josie who has
made her home in Hickory. We
extend to the bereaved family our
deepest sympathy.
Obituary.
John Pinkney Deitz. born May 7th,
188G,died June 14th, 1913, aged 29 yrs.,
1 mo., and 7 days.
In the year, 1905, lie was married to
Miss Parolee Robbins, of this anion
two children were born. A year ago
he became afflicted with cancer. He
sought relief at a number of hospitals.
For the past few months he made his
home with his parents on 9th Avenue
and all that human kindness could do
was sympathetically given him, but it
was God's will and way that he should
not recover from iiis illness in this life.
His patience and resignation under af
fliction was great. He was a member
of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. His
pastor conducted the funeral service
Sunday morninjf and his body was laid
to rest in the city cemetery.
A Card of Thanks.
We wish to thank our friends and
neighbors for their kindly assistance
thrnugh the illness and death of our
son and husband.
Mrs. J. P. Deitz.
Mr. S. P. Deitz.
Mrs. S. P. Deitz.
Fell Dead in Pulpit.
Quite a little excitement
created at a negro cbursh, St Paul,
about two miles west of Forest
City, Sunday, when the preacher
named Helton dropped dead from
heart failure. Helton had preach
ed a sermon to his congregation
and while concluding fell to thf
pulpit floor and expired. As told
by one of the deacons his last
words were: 4 'Lord I'm coming
and coming now." Helton was
atout 45 years of age and had
been pastor of the church for two
years.
Democrat and Press, Consolidated 1905
$125,000.00 A YEAR 00 $350.00 A DAI: HICK
ORY'S conn 10 THE RAILROAD'S CRAFT
An Adjustment of Freight Rates Would Mean More Growth for
Hickory in the Next Two Years Than it Has Had in the Past
Ten—A Hypothetical Case if Passenger Rates Were Similar
to Those in Freight Traffic—A Glimpse at the "Reflected
Relief Plan" of the Railroads—lmportance of the United
States Supreme Court Decision as an Aid to us in Our Fight
Against Unjust Discrimination.
To the Editor:
During these times we are ac
customed to hearing much of
Progress and "Progressives",
and the resulting prosperity and
ultimate betterment of general
conditions which may be reach
ed when we have successfully
carried out some of our progress
ive programs. During these
same times we are hearing the
"Conservative" express his opti
mistic belief in the future of
our industrial and commercial
life as he advocates his "Leave
alone" policy, saving that
"Things will eventually adjust
themselves." With each there
is a singularity of purpose-the
improvement of conditions under
which we live-the dividing line
between them being the same as
that which divides them in their
opinions as to the proper means
of securing these much needed
benefits.
Before North Carolina to-day
is the most weighty problem of
industrial career-that of reach- j
ing a satisfactory solution of a j
policy of Freight Rate discrimi (
nation which has been pursued j
against us since the days of our j
commercial infancy. Then back
to the question of how are we to
solve this problem? Are we to
continue in the beaten paths of
Conservatism, or the "Leave
Alone" policy and forever suffer
the ills we have, or are we going
to adopt the real pr gressive and
aggressive policy of self protec
tion "by taking arms against
this sea of troubles and by op
posing end them"? For many
years the great majority of us
have lived in ignorance of the
conditions which have surround
ed us, and as a result we have
unconsciously pursued such a
policy as would give the trans
portation companies, doing busi
ness in this state, absolute free
dom in the carrying out of their
graft exacting plans-. Since we
did it through ignorance we
may not deserve any credit for
having pursued such a policy,
yet it has resulted in our bene
fit to this extent we have test
ed the consciences of the rail
roads and find them to be con
scienceless. To you who believe
in the integrity and disposition
of the railroads to do justice to
the people of this state in the
matter of freight rates, what
answer or apology can you make
for their conduct during these
years of graft extraction when
they might have shown us a
little consideration by display
ing a disposition to correct some
jof the abuses under which we
| have been living? "
But we often hear the state
ment made that we have grown
to be prosperous under condi
tions as they have existed in the
past and that we will continue
to prosper despite this unjust
discrimination. In part we con
cede this to be true, for our
growth in the past decade has
been so marvelous that \fre have
learned to believe that all things
are possible in North Carolina.
The city of Hickory has had a
marvelous growth for the past
few years, for even this Freight
Rate Discrimination has not
served to strifle the energies and
enthusiasm of the determined
forces that have promoted its
growth and development. If
such success has been possible
under the conditions that have
existed in the past, it is only in
imagination that we can see what
its growth would have been, had
the efforts of its builders not
been hampered by this unjust
disciimination against its people.
We believe that with this con
dition removed Hickorv's growth
in the next two years will exceed
that of the past ten, for when
we realize that the railroads are
collecting in graft from the ship
pers of this city, approximately
$350.00 every day in the year,
we marvel at its record of the
past, and turn with hope to the
future day when this burden
some tax will no longer be re
quired of us. Of the total annual
freight revenues of the com
bined railroads of the state,
amounting to, $24,550,000.00
Hickory contributes $670,000.00.
or approximately 21-2 per cent
of the $5,000,000,00 which all the
Railroads operating in North
Carolina, are annually collecting
unjustly from the people of the
state. Hickory is paying its
2 1-2 per cent or a total of $125,-
000 00 per year, or approximate
ly $350.00 per day. Mr. W. S.
Gilbert at the request of the
Chamber of Commerce investi
gated conditions as they exist
at thi i point, and in his report
gavv i. as his opinion that a re
duction in freight rates of one
cent p ( hundred pounds would
save the shippers of this city
$40.00 p?r day. However this
well merited confidence and be
lief which we have in our state
does not justify us in a policy
of inactivity, for we have seen
that when we are least active,
the railroads are ever ready to
take advantage of the oppor
tunity to levy their uniust taxes
upon North Carolina genius, in
itiative and energy. With this
disguised system of taxation in
operation; exacting its annual
toll of five millions of dollars
from the state, can we continue
to go forward along the industrial
and commercial lines which we
have planned? If we are to
judge by all experience has
taught us it seems that we can
not.
With opportunities and con -
ditions the same, the survival is
always to the fittest, but when
this equality of opportunities is
taken from us our growth be
comes speculative and uncertain;
our survival problematical, if
not impossible. It is the
ing of our industrial existence
by this inequality of conditions
that is lending strength and co
operation to the most important
and far reaching fight that the
people of North Carolina have
engaged in for years. During
past years our thrift and energy
have done much to counteract
and minimize the influence of
this unreasonable discrimination,
but in doing so we have placed
an unnecessary burden upon in
creased efficiency; that we may
t>e able to promptly meet the
bills of the unscrupulous graft
collector; for a term less mild
than graft would hardly give
adequate meaning to the system
under which the transportation
companies operate
As illustrative of this system
here is what your situation
would be if it were effective in
the passenger traffic department.
If you were in Cincinnati want
ing to come to Hickory and ap
plied to the Southern Railway
for ■& rate to this point, its agent
(we will say for the purpose of
illustration) would name you a
rate of $12,65 as the price of
your ticket. You immediately
think that he has made a mis
take and to be certain that he
has, you inquire the price of a
ticket to Danville, Va., and find
that it Is $B.BO. This startling
discovery leads you to further
inquire regarding the rate from
Danville back to Hickory and
you are informed that it is $3.85.
A single glance at these figures
reveals the whole story of the
system under which rates are
made, for you have discovered
the fact that the rate from
Cincinnati to Hickory is through
rate from Cincinnati to Danville;
plus the local rate from Dan
ville back to Hickory. While
this is only an illustration as to
passenger rates, it is an actual
condition that you would meet in
moving a car load of freight from
some Western city to this point.
Theoretically your shipment
would move to some Virginia
city and then back to Hickory
while as a matter of practice it
never reaches the Virginia city
but is stopped here, thus saving
the transportation company the
expense of the double haul be
tween this point and the through
rate point which in the imagina
tion of the rail roads is supposed
toexistsomewhere up in Virginia.
However, when it comes to pay
ing your freight bill, you find
that the situation has entirely
reversed itself, for instead of
being confronted by a theoreti
cal situation you find vourself
facing the necessity of having to
pay freight on this double im
(Continued on second page,)