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|,MO,.RA »• AN.) PRESS CONSOLIDATED 1905
|!OR MRS FOR RURAL
iIL CARRIERS IS ORDER
Postmaster General Orders the
Elimination of Bicycles
and Motorcycles.
Washington, July 26.—Pos'-
Eiaster General Burleson issued
a3 order Saturday prohibiting
thi us 2o? bicycles and motor
ev:les in the rural delivery ser
vice after January 1 next. Mr.
Burleson says after that date
carriers use automobiles in
stead of Ri3tJrcycles and b cycles.
Acccrding to an official state
ment given cut at the depart
ment Here are approximately
js,otX> routes upon which bicycles
a:iJ motorcycles are used to car
ry tae mails. It is held by the
department that this type of ve
h.cle dees not have the cairying
capacity needed for the parcel
irst service. The elimination of
this kind of vehicle, the depart
ment sr.y3, vviil also tend to
ujiaiizathe working conditions
of the carrier force as carriers
usins motorcycles are especially
iiuble to irjury which results in
great expense to the government
since the passage of a law by
congress authniizing tl e govern
ment to pay for injury and death
to postal employes while on duty.
Ensign F. G. Blasdel, U. S.
navy, who is attached to the di
vision of naval militia affairs in
the navy depaitment will leave
Washington July 27 on a tour of
inspection of the North Carolina
naval militia and to assist the
state authorities in the installa
tion of a comprehensive and a
proper system for the accounting
and care of federal property loan
ed to the state of North Carolina
for the use of navai militia.
Ensign B!2sdel will first confer
with Adjutant General Young at
Raleigh and will later accom
pany General Young on -aa in
spection of the naval militia at
New Bern, Washington, Belhav
en, Hertford and Elizabeth City.
Yeoman Elley will ac
company Ensign Biasdel on the
trip and will be assigned for
duty with the naval militia of
North Carolina temporarily un
der the supervision of theinspec
tor-imtfizctor, Lieutenant E. H.
Connor.—Parker And arson.
mumm~ -
AMERICAN VESSEL
LeeJanaw ' Filled With Fiax is
Torpedoed off Coast of
Scotland.
"
London, July 26.—The Ameri
can freight steamer Leelenaw
bound from Archangel, Russia,
for Belfast with a cargo of fhx,
was torpedoed and sunk Sunday
bv a German submarine off the
Northwest coast of Scotland.
Captain Belk and the crew were
saved, landing at Kirkwall in
their own boats.
Keen interest was displayed in
British official circles today over
the news of the torpedoing of
the Leelenaw, but comment was
withheld until the receipt of
further details which the Ad
miralty has requested.
Tomorrow the Leelenaw's crew
will be sent to Dundee, wht-re
the American Consul will take
their depositions.
American officials will make a
rigid investigation especially
with regard to the point wheth
er the crew was removed before
the torpedo was fired, as the
Leelenaw was carrying a condi
tional contraband cargo from one
belligerent port to another.
The Leelenaw left New York
♦•lay 17, with a cargo of cotton
consigned to Russia. She was
detained at Kirkwall but was re
leased June 26 with permission
to proceed to Archangel, where
the cotton was discharged amid
& cargo of flax was loaded for
Belfast.
No details of the torpedoing of
the Leelenaw have been received
beyond a message stating that
the crew had been safely landed
at Kirkwall, Scotland from
which place they notified the
American Consul, at Dundee of
the sinking of the vessel.
An official statement of the
German Government issued April
18, 1915 set forth that flax is
contraband of war.
The Leelen&w was command
ed by Capt. D. B. Belk. Her
crew consisted of seven officers
and 32 men and she was owned
by the Harby Steamship Com
pany.
ihe Leelennw was formerly
called Earnweil. She was 280
feet long and of 1,924 gross tons.
Under the name of Earnvveil
she was wrecked some years ago
in a tiooical storm ctr Colon and
the steamship company abandon
ed her to the insurance under
writers. The latter brought the
vessel to Norfolk where she was
rebuilt and sold.
BJIKB PMFFICE
ID BE BaMIZED
Office of Assistant Postmaster
Will Be Abolished; Few
Salaries Reduced.
Washington, July 27.—At the
request of Representative Pou,
the postoffice department today
decided to send inspectors to Rai
eichatonce to reorganize the
office force and to determine
whether the government will
make use of the Rogers-Drake
building near the union station,
which was built for the govern
ment's parcel post station. The
inspectors will leave here either
tonight or tomorrow.
The new plan will abolish the
office of assistant postmaster and
according to report, the entire
clerical force will be organized.
Some will receive higher salaries,
others will be reduced, and it is
not at all improbable that several
naw clerks will be added to the
pr€S§fit force.
It is learned from a reliable]
source that there is not much"
chance of the government mak
ing any further use of the Rog
ers-Drake building. Recent in
vestigations have convinced the
officials here that Raleigh already
has ample bui'ding space to take
care of the mail matter for the
next 10 years. There is a station
at the depot and the new main
office is well equipped to handle
ail other mail that comes to the
state's capita!, it is said.
The regular force of inspectors
that has been reorganizing the
postoffices in the south was called
to Lynchburg, where they will
be for the next two weeks. At
the request of Mr. Pou, the de
partment decided to put a new
force of inspectors in the field in
order that the Raleigh office
might have immediate attention.
COIIONSITUATiON
NEXT BIG PROBLEM
President's Note to Great Brit
ain Will Be Based on the Prin
ciples of International Law.
Washington, July 26. —The cot
ton situation is going to receive
considerable attention from this
time on. Great Britain is in posi
tion to hit a severe blow to the
Southern king if she decides to
do it. Already the attitude of
Great Britain has crinpled Amer
ican commerce in cotton. Presi
dent Wilson does not intend to
call Congress together to retali
ate against Great Britain for her
restrictions but he will demand
that the rights the United States
is entitled to on the high seas be
respected.
The President's note to Great
Britain will be based upon the
principles of international law.
It will say in effect that Great
Britain is resorting to illegal
practices to "starve out" Ger
many.
It will contend: (1) That Great
Britain has failed to establish a
real blockade around Germany;
(2) that its policy of blockading
neutral Nations is illegal, (3) that
its list of contraband and non
contraband articles is arbitrary,
and improper.
The President will remind
Great Britian that the United
States has a right to trade with
neutral countries of Europe and
that it is up to her to determine
if goods are being transhipped to
Germany, and to deal directly
with the Nation which allows it.
Tne American shipper who sells
to a neutral country is not re
sponsible for transhipments to
Germany.
Great Britain will be told that
the United States cannot recog
nize her blockade until she puts
a lir.e of cruisers across the Ger
man ports that front on the Bal
tic Sea. The President will
maintain that Great Britain has
no right to interfere with Amer
ican shipments to neutral ports
unless she is positive that the
products of the United States are
being transhipped to Germany
from such ports.
Cotton wiil not be favored by
the President in dealing with
Great Britain. The principle in
volved will interest him and not
any particular crop or factory
product-.
The exnorts in cotton for the
vear of 1915, ending July 31 will
not be far from those of the year
1914.
What is to become of the next
crop, the one about to be harvest
ed, no one can predict. Senator
Hoke Smith and others who see
through Gloomy Gus glasses seem
to think that cotton is to be very
low if Great Britain continues
her present policy. Mr. Harding
of the Federal Reserve Board is
more hopeful.
One thing is certain, and that
is, Germany will not get any cot
ton if Great Britain can prevent
it. That is the way the matter
stands.. Great Britain claims
that Germany has been securing
her cotton supply through the
Scandinavin States of Denmark,
Norway and Sweden, and her
purpose is to stop that practice.
_.Great Britain has seized some
cotton at sea, and taken it into
her prize courts.
The President's forthcoming
note will deal with all of these
thing 3.
NEWS OF THE WEEK
FROM WEST HICKORY
Important Items and Locals from
That Hustling Little Town.
West Hickory, July 27.--Mr. Thom
as Cook and son, Victor, and daughter,
Miss Rosie, went to Asheville on the
excuision Saturday.
Mr. Frank Williams, who had been
here for seveial weeks visiting relatives,
to Alta Vista, Va., Sunday.
Mr. P. A. Carpenter of Cherryville, is
a regular visitor in our town.
Miss Jiramie Parson has returned to
her home in Anderson. S. C. She has
been here for several weeks visiting
Mrs. Ed, Hammond.
Little Nellie Ross, daughter of Mr.
ana Mrs. Charlie Ross, died Monday
morning. The bereaved ones have the
sympathy of the community.
Mr. John Milan and family have
moved into their new cottage in
Longview.
Mrs. Gertrude Defever of Granite
Falls, spent the week end here with
her sister, Mrs. Josephine Starnes.
Mrs. Rosa Tolbert has returned af
ter spending several days with her sis
ter in Asheville.
Miss Lillian Abernethy is visiting rel
atives and friends at High Shoals.
• •
Msss Mary Propst has returned from
a several months stay at Newton.
Mrs. Forest P.hyne and children are
visiting at Granite Falls.
Miss Areola Beck has returned af
ter spending several weeks with relatives
at Granite Falls.
Miss Irene and Ophelia Berry re
turned to their home at Drexel Sunday
after spending several days here visit
ing relatives and friends.
Mr. G. C. Freeman of Lexington,
was here last Friday visiting his broth
er. Mr. J. M. Freeman.
Miss Jo Moore left yesterday
for Covington, Ky.# where she
will spend some time on a visit
to relatives.
HICKORY, N. C., FRIDAY, JULY 30, 1915
OUR PUBLIC FORUM
Vll.—Hon. Elihu Root
- )n Roman's Sphere
Tbe question of Woman Suffrage is an issue before
jffißfejjjfPp%\ s \ the American people. Twelve states have adopted it,
iasf four more states vote upon it this fall and it is strongly
■ ur S e 3 that it become a platform demand of the national
1 political parties. It is therefore the privilege and the
duty of every voter to study carefully this subject Hon.
J Elihu Root, in discussing tnis question before the Consti
tutional Convention of New York, recently said in part:
- ana opposed to the granting of suffrage to women,
because I believe that it would be a loss to women, to all
women and to every woman; and because I believe it
would be an injury to the State, and to every man and
every woman in the State. It would be useless to argue this if the right of
suffrage were a natural right. If it were a natural right, then women should
have it though the heavens Sail. But if there be any one thing settled in the
long discussion of this subject, it is that suffrage is not a natural right, but is
simply a means of government, and the sole question to be discussed is
whether government by the suffrage of men and women will be better gov
ernment than by the suffrage of men alone.
Into my judgment, sir, there enters no element of the inferiority of
woman. It is not that woman is inferior to man, but Ct is that woman is
different from man; that in the distribution of powers, of capacities, of
qualities, our Maker has created man adapted to the performance of certain
functions in the economy of nature and society, and woman adapted to the
performance of other functions.
Woman rules today by the sweet and noble influences of her character.
Put woman into the arena of conflict and she abandons these great weapons
winch control the world, and she takes into her hands, feeble and nerveless
for strife, weapons with which she is unfamiliar and which she i 3 unable to
wield. Woman in strife becomes hard, harsh, unlovable, repulsive; as far
removed .from that gentle creature to whom we all owe allegiance and to
whom we confess submission, as the heaven is removed from the earth.
The whole science of government is the science of protecting life and
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In the divine distribution of powers,
the duty and the right of protection rests with the male. It is so through
out nature. It is so with men, and I, for one, will never c.onsent to part
with the divine right of protecting my wife, my daughter, the women
whem I love, and the women whem I respect, exercising the birthright of
man, and place that high duty in the weak and nerveless hands of those
designed by God to be protected rather than to engage in the stern warfare
of government. In my judgment, this whole movement arises from a false
conception of the duty and of the right of both men and women.
The time will never come when the line of demarcation between the
functions of the two sexes will be broken down. I believe it to be false phi
losophy; I believe that it is an attempt to turn backward upon the line of
social development, and that if the step ever be taken, we go centuries back
ward on the march towards a higher, a nobler and a purer civilization, which
must be found not in the confusion, but in the higher differentiation of the
sexes."
OUR PUBLIC FORUM
VIII. —C- E. Schaff
On Railway Investments
JB&-■ 'President Wilson, recently referring to our railroad
||f problems, said in part: "They are indispensable to
I our economic life and railway securities are at
|l|s|spS» | the very heart of most investments, ls.rge and small, public
MK and private, by individuals and by institutions. • * *
; J There is no other interest so cvitral to the business wel
the jcountry, as this. No doubt, in the light of the
1 K new day, with its new understandings, the problem of the
rgfra in J§y|i railroads will also be met and dealt with in a spirit of
fjffgP jqy vjj-1111 candor and justice."
? : Ǥp||fs When the first citizen of the land stresses the import-
ance of understanding and dealing justly with the rail-
——— roads, certainly the American plowman can venture upon
a careful study of the problem. C. E. Scbaff, president of the M. K. & T.
railway company, when asked to outline the relation of the public to rail
roads investments!, said in part:
"It may be said that the railroad world is encumbered with a lot of
phantoms which exist only in the popular fancy. For instance, because
there have been a few so-called 'railroad magnates' whose names have figured
prominently in finance, many people have come to believe that the railroads
of the country are largely owned by a few rich men. A3 a matter of fact
nothing could be farther from the truth. Out of the colossal sum of twenty
billion dollars of American railroad securities, less than five per cent is now,
or .ever has been, in the hands of these men who have figured prominently in
the newspaper headlines—while the other 95 per cent is in the hands of over
two million investors, large and small, who in many instances have put the
modest savings of a 11/etlme into these securities in order that they might
lay away a competency for old age. When, therefore, the value of these
securities is depressed or perchance destroyed, the hardship is a hundred
fold greater upon thousands of every day citizens, than upon the handful of
millionaires, good or bad, who have figured prominently in railroad circles.
Hundreds of millions of dollars of the assets- of our great life and fire
insurance companies, savings banks, trust companies, educational and fiduciary
Institutions are invested in railroad bonds—and the moment, therefore, that
the soundness of these bonds is called into question the financial solidity of
these myriad institutions—directly affecting the welfare of millions of policy
holders and bank depositors—is gravely menaced. During the last several
years, many millions of dollars representing depreciated values, have been
charged off the books of concerns like those enumerated above. American
railroads have become a vital part of the very woof and fabric of the nation.
Their continued efficiency is absolutely essential to the smallest community
in the land.
In blindly striking at the railroads our blows fall not merely upon thou
sands who have committed no wrong, but, in the last analysis, upon ourselves.
We should remember how interdependent we have come to be in this mighty
republic of ours—that each is in truth become more and more his brother's
keeper, and that we need to act and think circumspectly, lest in our mistaken
zeal we destroy those who, like ourselves, need whatever of this world's
goods the toil and sweat of years hag bequeathed to them."
OUR PUBLIC FORUM
IX—Peter Radford
r On "Back to the Soil With Wall Street"
it When Wall Street wants good business men she
usually goes back to the soil to get them. That financial
thoroughfare Is said to be honeycombed with men who
have plowed barefooted, who have drunk branch water,
eaten cornbread and molasses and slept on the floor in
their early days. A man is more capable of holding the
reins of business who knows how to drive a team of
mules, shear a sheep or put a ring in a shoat's nose. A
man is better equipped to meet the problems of life who
in his youth has walked the log across the creek to get
to school, courted the girls at husking bees and
pitched horse shoes Saturday afternoon. A man who has
spent the moonlight nights of his youth possum hunting, going to protracted
meetings and occasionally turning down the community at a spelling match
has the right sort of stuff in him to make a good business man. The active
officials of most of the large business organizations of America it is said
were, with a very fe# exceptions, raised on the farm, and could swim the
creek, pitch hay, chop wood, milk the cows or slop the hogs as easily as
they can run world-wide business institutions.
The farmers look to these capable and loyal sons of the soiMo assist in
the solution of the business problems cf agriculture. Wall Street is reputed
to be capable of financing everything from a Y. M. C. A. to a war, so why not
finance agriculture? It is not sufficient to lend money to a correspondent to
lend to a local banker, to lend to a broker to lend to a merchant, to lend to
the landlord to lend to a farmer. Such a financial system sounds like the
house that Jack built, and is just about as useful. Neither is assistance com
plete when money is furnished buyers to "move the crop." What the farmer
wants is money to hold the crop. What better security is there than a ware
'house receipt for a bale of cotton, a sack of wheat or a bushel of "corn and
why will such securities not travel by the side of government bonds?
The American farmer is a capable plowman. He always has filled and al
ways will fill the nation's granary, larder and wardrobe, but he has nothing
to say in fixing the prictf of his products. The problem confronting the farm
ers of this nation today is marketing and its solution depends first upon the
farmer organizing for concert of action and the co-operation of the financial
interests in marketing the crop. Agriculture is the biggest business in
America and the only pne that has not a Unanclal system adapted to Jtg use.
First Regiment
Breaks Record
Morehsad City, July 26.—To
day's program at Camp Gienr,
was begun early this morning
when the entire regiment was
inspected, after which a maneu
ver took place, the regiment at
tacking an imaginary enemy in
position. The record practice
course was followed by a regi
mental parade, the former sur
passing any previous record made
here, the latter reflecting much
credit upon the commanding of
ficer.
COMPANY A LEADS.
In the record practice course
company A was placf d at the top
of the column with 8 men quali
fying as expert?, the requirement
bein 210 or better, out of a pos
sible 250, with Corporal W. A.
E'rod leading his Company with
a record of 227.
Receivership Named For Nashville
Municipality.
Nashville, Tenn., July 27. —
Master in Chancery Robert
Vaughn was named receiver for
the municipality of Nashville to
day by Chancellor Allison. A
ftw minutes later Mayor Hillory
E l . Hows e, City Treasurer Charles
Myers and City Commissioners
Robert Elliot and Lyie Andrews
were suspended from office by
Circuit Judge Mathews in pro
feedings instituted under Ten
nessee'snew "ouster law.''
The receivership suit was
brought by Miles Burns, who
nnce has resigned the office of
lity comptroller, and other citi
zens. The ouster suit was insti
tuted by a number of taxoayers.
the law requiring that at least 10
sign the Detition.^-
J. M. Wilkerson recently re
signed as city commissioner. An
drews, Burns. Meyers, and Assist
ant Treasurer W. H. West are un
der indictment in connection with
the disappearance of books and
records from the comptrollers'
office. West's whereabouts is not
known.
Russians Still Hold Teutons From
Warsaw.
Londor, July 27.—The magni
tude of the Garman enveloping
movement in the eastern field
is absorbing the attention of tfce
British official and public. Latest
reports show thit General Von
Buelow ? s 30,000 cavalry have re
turned southward from Riga and
are within eighty miles of the
railway connecting Petrograd
and Warsaw. In this way the
northern German line is closing
i.l on the main northern railway
artery to the Russian capita!
while the southern army similar
ly is approaching the main south
ern artery running to Odessa.
The Times declares human his
tory hc S shown no paralled to
this great envoiving moment
which involves rc-sulta to Russia
and the western allies comparing
with Russia's resistance to a
monfioi invasion. The Times be
lieves the operations are a real
danger to the whole system of
railway defences of which War
saw is tie center. The news
paper points out that the fall of
Warsaw will have a grave sisr
nincsnce for the west as it will
mean Russia's pawer to resume
a successful offensive will have
been indefinitely postponed and
that the principal bases for of
fensive operations will be in the
hjnds of eGrmany.
Today'i Petrograd officiaHstate
ment sayirg that the Germans
have been thro.vn back at one
Doii t of the Faraw river, brings
33ire relief to London* as the
military observers hold that the
final results depend on Russia's
holding her pcsilions until clima
tic condi ions impose a barrier to
the fail realization of the Ger
man plans.
Repcris from other military
fields with the exception of the
Italian frontier where the Ital
ians claims to have taken 1,600
prisoners show comparative in
activity.
00000 >OOO D6OGDCC>: 00000
§ The Democrat Leads $
| in News & Circulation g
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New Series Vol. I, No. 20
[ HICKORY WATER POWER.
'An Opportunity It at Has Been
Standing Still and Nobody Able
to Tel! Why.
To the Editor of The Observer:
> lam always interested in any
thing that promises growth and
development for western North
Carolina.
My idea has always been that
the future of western North Car
olina lies in the proper develop
ment of its splendid water power
and the conversion of this power
into electric energy. Power to
drive motors in manufacturing
enterprises is what is most need
fid. My reason for writing this
is to direct attention to the devel
opment of these powers. Con
jsidering conditions in the line of
business, anything to be motor
driven, the basis for investment
in industrial enterprises, and the
large number of highly lucrative
development already made, of
water power sites in the South,
together with the limited num -
ber of available and feasible sites
in the South for hydro-electric
development, it is one of th«
wonders and mysteries why and
how it is that the one of 9,000
horsepower at Hickory, N.C., on
the great Catawba River, has
not been developed. All the cor>
aitions are highly favorabie at
that point for a development and
also for a successful operation
and consumption of-the entire
power output, and then some
more. The site has be°n op?n
for development since IGOB. Has
been surveyed and resurveyed
many times, is chartered by the
State, organized, and bonds have
been issued. But no develop
ment has been made.
Hickory is a thriving little city. '
and has many and some quae
large industrial enterprises. The
International Harvester Com
pany has a very large plant
there. Several cotton mills, two
or three hosiery mills; several
furniture factories and a large
chair manufacturing plant. Be
sides, there are many other quite
large industries. In face the city
of Hickory as acquired much of
its impetus, growth and virility
because of the contemplated de
velopment of its water power on
the Catawba River at that poir.t.
There is nothing of any real or
substantial nature standing in
the way for an immediate and
most exceedingly economical de
velopment of that water power
site, and why it has not been
grabbed at and accomplished is
beyond comprehension. TJi e
State of Noith Carolina gave it a
charter under the name of the
'"Water-Fewer Electric Company
of Hickory, N.C.," in 19GG. This
is the only water power site left
undeveloped on the Catawba
River. It has a water shed area
in the mountains of western
North Carolina of 110.000 square
miles.
Besides other mineral ores of
various kinds, some near to and
others within easy reach of th-.-;
dam site, there is an abundance
of potash rock- which has been
investigated by an expert en
gaged in the line, who pro
nounced it a most excellent pot
ash rock for extracting acids for
fertilizers, and to make othi?r
chemicals. Within 20 miles are
deposits of tin ore, limestone aivi
a deposit of very high
grade magnetite iron ore, Ah4
not far up in the mountains ar*
several deposits of several thou
sand acres of titanium ore.
Western North Carolina isi'ul!
of mineral ores of nearly every
kind known. All of these ores
c?.n be smelted most economical
ly by eleetrical application
this proposed hydro-electric
plant. The Water-Power Elec
trical Company of Hickory, N.U.
has something to do with two
kinds of types of smelting fur
naces. One of them a Hot Bkafc
furnace and the oth*r
an electric smelting furnace
process for electrically produc
ing steel direct from the or. s,
especially from magnetite
and also producing a superior
gas by-product that will be al
most equal in horsepower to the
original electric power required
to operate the whole plant.
GEORGE P. PELL*
Raleigh, July 25,