Newspapers / The Lincoln Times (Lincolnton, … / Feb. 20, 1919, edition 1 / Page 1
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5' . X Mi mi srL ' - - - ESTABLISHED 1876 LINCOLNTON. N. C., THURSDAY AFTERNOON. FEBRUARY 20. 1910 FIVE CENTS PER COPY $1.50 per year BILL FOR NEW COUNTY COURTHOUSE There has been b good deal of dis cussion about the new court house proposition for Lincoln county. That there is a need for more room for records in the offices of the court house is well known. Also a need for a larger and more convenient court room. Several grand jurys and judges have repeatedly made strong recommendations for a new court house, but matter never got further than this. However, there is now a proSpect of Lincoln county having a new $100,- 000 court house within a short time. A bill has been introduced in the Leg islature giving this county a new court ' house. The bill r.s introduced this week is given in full below: --, A Bill To Be Entitled "An Act To - Provide for the Erection of a New Court House in Lincoln County Au thorizing a Bond Issue Therefor." The General Assembly of North Car olina do enact:. Section 1. That the board of county commissioners of Lincoln county are hereby authorized, empowered and di rected to issue bonds to the amount not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars and not less- than seventy-five thousand dollars, to be known as "Court House Bonds" for the purpose of building and erecting a new county court house in the county of Lincoln. The said bonds shall be coupon bonds and bear interest at a rate not to ex ceed six per cent and shall be issued in such manner, in Buch form, in such denominations, and for such terms : as may seem best to a majority of the entire board of county commis sioners of Lincoln county. The pro ceeds from the sale of the aforesaid bonds shall be kept separate and anart from other funds of Lincoln county and shall be used for the pur , pose of erecting and building a mod ern, commodious and convenient court house on the site of the present court house of Lincoln county. Sec, 2. That within one year from the ratification of this act, it shall be ' the duty of the county commissioners to issue said bonds and to begin work on erecting the court house as above provided. Sec. 3. That it shall be the duty of the county commissioners, and they are hereby authorized and directed to remove the present court house and dispose of the same in such manner : and on such terms as to them may seem best and the proceeds of the sale of the present court house building, or any part thereof, shall be turned into the general funds of the county to be used for county purposes. During the : time that the present court house is " oelno- torn down or removed and dur ing the time required for the erection . of the new court house as above provided.- for, the count" commissioners ot Lineoln county are hereby authoriz ed and" empowered and directed to provide a suitable and convenient place for transaction of the business of the county by the several officers thereof, and the said place so provid ed shall be for all purposes, the court house of Lincoln county during the time specified above. Sec. 4. That the ground floor of the new court house above provided . for, shall be properly built and equip ped with rest rooms and retiring rooms and other conveniences, and shall be known and designated as a - memorial, commemorating the ser vices of the soldiers who have gone from Lincoln county to the Revolu tionary war, Civil war, the Spanish American war and the recent World Wide war. . Sec 5. That for the purpose of paying the interest on, and providing a sinking fund for the payment of the aforesaid court house bonds, the county commissioners of Lincoln coun ty, are hereby authorized, empowered and directed, to levy such tax as in their discretion may be necessary upon the real and personal property of the county of Lincoln and on the polls, and on such other subjects of taxation as are now or may hereafter be taxable under the laws of the State of North Carolina; the said tax to be levied at the same time and in the same manner as other county tax, i and collected by the sheriff, or other tax collector of the county in the same manner as other taxes of 'the county are collected. , Sec. 6. That this act shall he in force from and after its ratification. Terms For Extension of Armistice Accepted. ..'.- -, A dispatch from Copenhagen, dated yesterday says: "The German government on Sun day night accepted the alltec terms fcr the extension of the armistice, ac cording to a dispatch to the Politiken Irom weimar. . . "The meeting at which the accept ance ras decided upon, thePolitiken's correspondent says, was attended by leaders of various parties. Berlin, Feb. 17. The German gov ernment's reasons for accepting the stringent terms for the renewal of the armistice, as outlined in a Weimar disDatch to The Nord Dutche Allge- -meine Zeituner. is that a renewal of military operations following refusal to sign would lead to the' complete moral collapse of the German people. The absolute conviction prevailed that refusal to sign, or dilatory treatment of the proposals, would meet witn an Immediate advance of the allied ar mies beyond the Rhine, involving the Li - xl . - ! . indispensable industrial districts of west Germany, CLAIM INDEMNITY. The British delegates at the peace conference have been definitely in structed to claim an indemnity which well as the damage actually caused. . . m Ifr nm. nnnnliMil In IVtA Tl nil fl n n. v, t ii.... t i- repl- to a question. A commission is -.u.;nr. k claimed, tne method ny wnicn pay- nnnt shall be made ard tht means ot Alorcing tha payment. SHORT NEWS ITEMS The veterinarians of the South eastern States will hold their third an nual meeting at Birmingham, Ala., February 20-22. Senator and Mrs- Lee S. Overman have announced the engagement of their daughter, Miss Grace McDowell Overman, to Mr. Edgar Hollis Snow, of Greensboro. "Canned blood," it has been ex plained, was used in transfusion to save lives of American soldiers in France, to offset effects of hemor hagc. Nomination of Maj: Gen. Enoch Crowder to be judge advocate general of the army for another term of four years has been confirmed by the Sen- ; Fire, which started Friday after noon in the Seaboard Air Line rail road terminal in Savannah Ga., caused damage estimated at several million dollars. Bishop E. E. Hoss, of the Metho dist Episcopal Church, South, suffer ed a stroke of apoplexy Saturday, at Muskogee, Okla., and scant hope is entertained for his recovery. Despite charges by Republicans, Maj. E. J. Hale is still in good stand ing as minister to Costa Rica, he hav ing been brought home some time ago on account of a revolution in Costa Rica. . According to the War Department. Lieutenant-Colenel Albert H. Mueller has been made professor of military science and tactics at Davidson col lege. He will be acting quartermas ter for the time he may remain on duty.'- .-. -y A mass meeting of townships of Robeson county was held at Maxton last week and representatives voted unanimously to divide the county into three counties. Committees were ap pointed to attend to the matter and prepare bills for the legislature. At a mass meetine of the student body of the University Friday night, $20,000 was subcribed to the Gra ham memorial fund. Many canvass ers have not yet reported and the to tal subscription is expected to reacn 25,000. , Rnrlv Sntidav moraine, a fire in the business section of Matthews, a small town southeast of Charlotte, destroy ed several buildings, the loss being es HmntMi at ahnut 250.000. The Char lotte Are department was called upon and responded. A change in the di rection of the wind was responsible for checking the spread of the flames. Judge Henry RavenscWt Bryan, no of the State's m6st "prominent jurists, died at his home W New Berne Fridav momine. 1 For more than a year Judge Bryan had been in declining health and his death was not unexpected. He was a native of New Berne and m his eignty-tnira rear leaves a record of a well-spent ife. Survivine are his Wife, five daughters and three sons. Mm.. Buririn Griffin, seed 18 years wnahumed to death and her mother- in-law Mrs Susan Griffin, sustained what is feared to be fatal burns at their home in Cooleemee, when Mrs. Burg'n Griffin poured oil from a can into the stove, containing fire, which caused an explosion. The house and its contents were destroyed by the fire. It is the opinion of the people of Cooleemee that the oil contained gaso line and an investigation is being made. James W. McNeil, a Washington lawyer, has filed suit against Baxter Shemwell or wortn caronna anu me Western Union Telegraph Company for $50,000 damages, in the district Supreme court, for alleged libel. Ho filed similar suit against Mr. Shem- well and the Postal Telegrapn com pany, for $50,000. Mr. McNeil says the telegraph companys accepted tele grams from Mr. snemwen combining statements reflecting on the plaintiff and constituted a publication. Brutal killing took place in Chat ham countv. seven miles , north of Pittsboro, Saturday, when Charles Burnett, it is alleged, snot nis wue. Burnett claimed the killing to be acci dental, but the coroner's jury decided otherwise and' Burnett was sent to jail. He and his wife had been sepa rated and contentions had arisen over the keeping of the child. After con senting to let his wife take the child he stepped back into the house and picked up his gun, saying that he was going hunting, then turning back to the door the gun fired, killing his wife instantly.. ; . ..,; , ' - ; The home of Mr. Ladd Whisnant at Boiling Springs was burned Sunday night shortly after dark. Mc Whis nant and family were away at the time, visiting his father, Mr. Pink Whisnant. The house and all con tents were a total loss with no insur ance. He lived on Mr. Lester Green's place. Fire is supposed to have been of incendary origin and an investi gation is being made. Washinrton. Feb. 17. Senator Overman received a !ctter from Gen. Henry Jervey today saying that Camp Greene could not be used lor demo bilization of the North Carolina sol diers of the Thirtieth division. The communication was sent in response to a visit Saturday morning of bena - tor uverman to secretary tsaaer ana,time for them t0 ruah up reserVcs, so a great handicap for the heavy arnl General March. .... Wi-hm HM not hecin until 5:50 Wv. W had been blessed in the Mrs. Marvin Blanton died at her home in South Shelby Monday morn-j ing at 9:30 o'clock after several days illness of peritonitis. Her death is learned with rreat sorrow as she was Wclv woman, a fine Christian and ereatly loved by all who knew her. ! Ivjrs. Blanton was. Miss Cora Bost r i torn J oriot mewion, ana w oi years oi bko SK ia aurvlvprf hv her husband. Mr. Marvin Blanton a prominent mer- oH-nt anH nnatmeater of South Shel- Dy, ana aevrn tiiiiun. m. wueav u ing about 15 years of age -Shol UU byfetar. TROOP "A" IN FRANCE -- A Brief Sketch of the Part Play- ed By Our Home Troop In . the Great War. (By Major W. A. Fair.) Autun, France, Jan. 20, 1918. ; The English alwnys speak of a bat tle as a "show." a or instance a unt- ish officer would say "that was a big show , they pulled off last; night," meaning tBat a big attack had taker, j place. Dozens of them said to me, "that was a great show your people pulled off at St. Mihiel. So for several days before our battle of Sep-' tember 29, the word was being passed ODout amongst omcers ana men mat roadi Lt Abemethy had the men "a hell of a big show" -was about to be; c'over in ditcfies alongside the pulled off. All hands were deeply in-, road or 8neU hoieft ,-earby, and the terested and as the day approacheJ pianes passed over ;', shooting up the and the preparations gave evidence of road over whjch a lot of transport was something really big being on foot , passmg .- One of these planes was the liveliest enthusiasm was notice-1 Bnot down a few minutes later while able in the attitude of bearing of ev-; attacKng a camp nsar Roisel. lETlTftan XI tl Lieut. Abernethy-I party was held WI W thn fa I ,Wln fa yiMW uo for 80me time ' Haisieourt by SS.. J itl oit!?I e congestion of artfcery on the road, when we surprised the entire State , A f ti y Jt j t fi with the success of our plans I mil , t t k thought of this very tiling several ! , ; f th fc 0f the moTow. flm1LWhf lhLPlt3Lw5 w t Lt. Abemethy , was! impressed with for the attack on the Hmdenburg line. . ft . -g. h j w ftr t d k d I was intensely interested myself,! u countleM aftilieryi guns' and iJTn7t 8nd horses-moving afonf silently much interested ns I was and all tak- th , t rd b , , SX irK. A time to timeta battery -would the plan. It was, for all the world,., n A Hiiahneariny in thp like eettin? ud some tremendous ex-' '?aleAne Z00! .n"aS?-nrmA.1" like eettine up some tremendous ex hibition. And while we were all worked very hard, yet we enjoyed ev ery minute of it. I was particularly impressed with this and thought much about how curious it all was, that we were making preparations for a great battle in which many were sure to be killed, and many others se- rious.y wounaea ana maimea ior inc. , l J-J' J - " J t - - I yes were Kany BU1"K " allotted tasks as merrily and happily as if it was to be a big circus instead of a great tragedy. If anyone had told me before we reacnea Europe mat our men woum ; Germans were very! strongly en go about their battle preparations i trenched at the top of the hill and had with this gayety of spirit and utter ' a wonderful system; of trenches and nonchalance I would have thought him ' very wide of the mark. I had no idea ! that I would feel about it as I did. I had tried to picture this very thing m 1 iiijr iiiihu urn wuiiucieu juoi, nuw i nam wacnme vnrv uawaiion ior would feel, and how I would be able merly old Troop "B'' Cavalry, N. C. to act I fully expected to be literally j w G. with Cantam Rufo M. Fitz- scared to death. But somehow, the excitement , the intense interest of ! the thing precluded any feeling of , fear. And I want to sav right here that I am not telling this in order to make ' you think that we were all brave. , I am telline the exact truth Lbesfruse. I think you .all' waat t know the exact truth and just How we teit on the eve of going into battle. There were times when I was scared, and bad scared, too. And all the rest of my officers and men were scared at limes ana tney win not nesiuue iu tell you that they were, and when and why. There are conditions when a man must be either a raving madman or an infernal fool if he is npt scared. I am very glad of the fact that my men admitted t being frightened at times, unhesitatingly said so. When a man tells you that he was not scar ed you may put it down that he is either a liar, or he was not in enough danger to cause him fear, or he was such a fool that ho did not have sense enough to realize what was going on. This really was about the biggest thing the British army pulled off dur ing the entire war. In. a quotation from Sir Douglas Haig I have already showed you where he thought the risks were ureat, and also had taken into consideration the effect a failure to break the Hindenburg line would have on the Germans and the public of all nations, So he left no stone un turned to make the- attack a success. The preparations were simply tre mendous. - , , On the American front in this at tack there were no less than two thou sand big guns, and there were seven- tpn KnnHrnH tank. Kverv fiftv yards there was a big 9 point 2- gun, and between every two of these there werei who was on duty at the cage, asKed four 5-point9s, and between these him to go with him-to Roisel to see there were four guns of heavy horse the Australian A. P. M. about some artillery to each two of the larger size thing. They found a bad congestion and lastly came the light guns, 75b, of traffic near Roisel and had some or what is known in the United States difficulty in getting this straightened as S inch guns. 1 out. , It was one o'clock when they got Of course, these cuns were not all ! to bed, and they were to be called at on the same line. The big 9 point 2s ; three-thirty next morning.. They had were the farthest bock, being about i a very comfortable room in a building two miles from the front lines, nr.d at Roisel vhich had been a bath for they were rot exactly in lino nor ex- German officers. Had a stove and it actly 'fifty feet npait, as the conform-! was a very comfortable place. They ation of the ground was uti'ied and had been making this place their bil wherever there was a particularly let for the Past few nights and the gooC place to locate one of these guns General had moved up to, Roisel also, on recount of shelter from hostile , using a cellar for his Advanced Head rl'.ell fire a depression in ti'O ground, 1 quarters. . the protection of a hillside, &c, it was j I went to bed early the evening of o located regardlrs of the fact that -the 28th, as did Lt. Lackey and the the distance might' be much over fifty few of our men who remained back at yards from the next gun or that it our camp near Tincourt. We had all wa not i.i a straight line wkh its fel- been exceedingly busy that dav, rid bwe on the right or left. Tnan the 5 ing about the front perfecting our ar pohit 9s were som-J ('.stance in advance rangements, and were very tired and of the larcrer cruns. also so nUice-1 ns exDected to have a hard day next day t take advantage of the ground with '.! lighter guns Mill in a ivance of mem, out tne g.5ie:i hvcirjsw i v ciiirn wa as a.f.oi stated. -This vas about the heaviest mass- out of my tent was the weather. It inc of artillery the British had yet was clear but very cold. Everything used, and the oripinal plan called for depended on the weather. For days a forty eight hour barrage before the we had been praying and hoping for attack' in order to shoot up the Ger- a dry spell, for the tanks cannot op man trenches as much as . possible, ei ate when the ground is wet and slip- Rut at the last moment it was decid- e(J that tnig. barrago would advertise , th comine to the Germans in on the morning of the 29th. There was a constant normnl bombardment going on, however, all the time. Late in the attemoon oi tne ztn i got word from Lieut. ADernetny tnat he needed a Sergeant and twenty-four men to strerTthen his various posts, nnd Serirt. Van. D. Chapman and twenty-four men were sent tip to the LieuferWnt. Before starting them i off ... J 1 1 ; 4-U mm i kuyb inn a uihb wums that thev were eo'nr ud to the front lines to take part in what was going to be one of the s-rcatest battles of v Jl. j . r 1 v , Viiruulsll uie UIIIUCUWUJK 1I.1V, anu A . . .... . . wanted every man to do hii full duty but to take as gooij care of himself as possible and Bit to hesitate to take cover when shelling got too hot, or anything happened - where it was necessary. I noticed these men care fully, studied them while I was talk- ing to see if they Showed any signs ' ing to see if they Showed any signs ; wi i . : am proud to sav th they were about I as happy a looking set of young fel- I lows as I could postibly wish. They 1 were smilinir and prnin? while I was talking to them anS when I had said , , 1, Major, we'll take eare of ourselves nnd ive tne B he j,ell to boot." jt wag ofter dat when Lt Aber. netny started out with these men to put their, on post and near Hervilly they were attacked by two German nior. wi,;h flou, trrv W .ml turn. ed their machine guns loose on the darkness to take a Hrail across the fields and over the hills to its place in line. 1 The front line trenches, from which our men "went ovei the top," were about fifty yards east of Hargieourt, on the slope of a hill and near the bot tom while the Germans occupied WvIIVHCj h trenches near the top of a hill in front abo,;t one huw!red and hfty Vai-Hs from our trenches' There was barbed wire entanglements strewn everywhere acros3 i this "no-man's-lnnd. Our men had to attack up hill, through these entanglements, and the entanglements extwiding for miles back of them. '-s in the eastern outskirts of Harsri- court was stationed Company "B' , patrick, of Asheville, in command, This company did magnificent work m this, and other fights, many officers and men being eithet killed of wound ed severely. CaptaiJ Fitzpatrick was later on very severely wounded. His outfit killed hundred of Germans. HeJ is-;;;i . - Ir.-iw wharf Mio Was aScbbI as a cucumber when tlia fight was the hottest, walking very deliberately about, smoking his pipe and directing his men in his quiet, easy-eoing, lazy kind of way. We I used to joke "old Fitz" about being so lazy and easy-going, but we never dreamed that he would pe tnis way in battle. As gallant and brave a man as ever stepped in shoe leather this same Captain Fitzpatrick, of Ashe ville, N. C. - The line of reserves ran along east 01 aI-Z, TWvniv In th: wards V illaret and Hervi lly In the opening of the attack the both Brig-I m T r . , t JJ it- A ade, under General S. L. Faison, with the 119th and 120th Infantry, old North Carolina National Guard troops commanded by Colonel Minor and Col onel Metz, went first with the 59th Brigade, under General Tyson, the 117th and 118th Infantry regiments being old National Guard troops from Tennessee and South Carolina resnec tively, in support. The 27th Division, New York National Guard, under Gen eral O'Ryan, was immediately on our left, and on either side of these two American divisions were the British divisions. The 5th Australian Divi sion was in rear of the 30th Old Hickory and at the proper time was to pass through our division and take up the fight. '. - ' T.t: Ahernethv returned to the P. O. W. cn2C at Hesbecourt about ten j o'clock that night and Capt Hinson, with possibly no rest for the next niht or two. We were called at two- . xmiiy in wie inumuig vi vi,, the first thine I noticed when I got nerv. and lust a little rain m this country makes the ground very muddy and slick as grease. Also, the mud is weather, it had not rained and the ground was in fairly good shape for tanks and heavy guns. we naa a gooa DreaKiast oi not coffee, Deei steaK, rrencn iriea poia - toes, light bread and jam, alter whieni we lighted our pipes, mounted our horses and set out for the battle front. It was bitterly cold, clear but dark Lt. Lackey rode alongside of me and 1 .. aIa inx imtMaHiaf alii Vi inH it a uai uciiica um.iia, ,.u.u Mv orderly was a fine young named Houck from near Lenoir, N. 0. A cood hard workine country boy who V"" 7," let ii i, a icncu W VWI uul.ii w. iimm i.wv . . , , up the front ss jet, and was ot aware of two enormous naval guns which were mounted on railway carriages and were right alongside the road near Roisel, where we were to pass. Lackey and I were riding along quiet- smoking and talking: as proached these guns and paid we ap iuwu U,CBB b" "- tention to them because we had been passing them frequently the past few days and our horses were old battle chargers we had gotten from the Eng- hsh and were accustomed to the big noise. They would stop and nibble giuaa uiuiigsiuo B uuLLery ill auviuil. Suddenly, just in front of us and slightly to the right there was a great trust of flame shot up into the sky and a terriffic report. Lackey and I knew it was one of the naval 15-inch guns and paid no attention to it. In a few minutes we had reached the side of the next big gun which at that very in stant went off, with a similar burst of flame in the darkness and the awful explosion. I made the remark to Lackey, "I hope that kills a thousand of them," meaning the Germans. Houck heard me speak to Lackey but did not catch what I said and evident ly thought I was asking Lackey what it was, so he volunteered this remark: "That one busted just to our right sir." Thinking I would have some fun out of Houck I said, " Houck, what do vou think that was?" He replied, "a hell of a big shell, sir." Then I told him that it was not a shell but two big railroad guns firing at, the Ger mans. He broke into a hearty laugh and said, "I fell better now, sir." We all had a good laugh at Houck's mis take, and I am of the opinion that this is a fairly , good example of how these ignorant country boys, young fellows who never had been far away from their taok woods homes before coming over here, adapted themselves to these new and truly; awful sur roundings. Here was this boy riding cmietlv alone when suddenly out of the darkness comes this tremendous flash and the deafening report; he rides still quietly on when another ex plosion occurs not over fifty yards from him, and when he heard my voice he volunteers the information thai the shell had "busted just off to the right, sir." He was not excited and his voice was perfectly even and nat ural. Neither had he stampeded and dashed off on his horce, as one might have expected a ereenhorn at this game to do. I do not now remember who the other orderly vas but he was not frightened either. We reached Roisel and waked Capt Hinson and Lt. Abemethy up, about fifteen minutes before they were to be called, and after they had gotten a bite of breakfast we all rode forward to our P. O. W. Caee near Harbecourt The big guns were roaring away but we had not been told about the change in the orders for the iirty-eight hour barrage and we commented no little " - tn - 'f act that th gun were no louder than usual and wondered if anything had happened to delay the attack. From the prison cage Lts. Abemethy and Lackey rode on-for-forward to look after the battle strag gler posts while the Australian offi cer was to handle the traffic situation in rear of the forward posts. Captain Hinson and I busied ourselves with our final preparations to handle the prisoners of war and the Intelligence officers got their arrangements per fected to examine any prisoners who miKht supply information of value. ( K w . . . . . i;ff, Tu. tu. un and rained a little. Then the rum ble of the heavy guns died down and soon the front was almost quiet, with the bark of a big shell once in a while and the steady firinc of the great nav al guns back of Roisel, their immense shells screeching overhead as they wended their nay to the back areas of the German army, where, let us hope, they did good work, This was the calm before the storm. At five thirty hell broke loose. Two thous and guns, great and small, belched forth their steel vomit risrht into the German front line trenches. Almost instantly the Germans replied with their counter-barrage. The battle TLna on It was still dark. Lts. Abemethy and Lackey were by this time right back of the front line trenches of our men and in about twenty minutes the wounded began streaming back. Some were carried on litters nut most oi them were walking. They came in batches of fifteen or twenty, huddled up together, supporting one another, atace-erin? about the field in the dark like drunken men, some falling down and being pulled up and carried by their comrades. These men had been wounded by the German counter bar rage, with shell fragments, shrapnel, &c. One Sergeant from the 119th Infantry came along walking quietly, with his right arm shot off about four inches from his shoulder. It had been hastily tied up with a first aid band age. This man uttered not a groan or word of complaint. Very few of the wounded cried out. They bore their suffering stoically, as part ot tne game. Lieuts. Abemethy and Lackey had separated at Jeancourt, Abemethy bearing off to the right and Lackey to the lef, to visit their posts and be ready for just what was happening. The military police rushed forward and -helped these wounded men to safety, got them into dugouts, and se cured ambulances for them anl sent them back to the dressing stations, where their needs could be cared for. This sort of thing was now happening al! !ong the line. The Germans began shelling With gas, our line of post coming in for their share, with a anrinkline of heavv shells and shrao- nel. Machine gun bullets were also. singing like mad hornets. It was at a dressing - station in a dug out near Jeancourt that Shuford Ramsaur and his four men did -such good and val iant work. The doctors and the wound ed were protected by the dug out but Ramsaur and his men had to work in the open. How any of them escaped ; . .jmnlv a miracle Our barrage kept up fcr forty five minutes, then lifted that is the range was extended so our men could charge. They went over the top in battallion formation, one battallion leading the .. ..... . t cnarje the nexj lollowing closely to mop np , the third m support, ine British troops usually follow their bar- . . . . j;.,.-.,., ,,,. dred to one hundred and iuty yaros, . . ' 1 1 . .r ...J w . X D... GEN. ROBERT D. JOHNSTON. Biographical Sketch. Editor News: I hand you herewith a sketch of the late Gen. Robert D, Johnston, written by himself. It is finely written, contains much interest inj history, bot'i lo.'al and general, and I hope you will give it place In your columns: A. Nixon. Birmingham, Ala, I was born in the County of Lincoln, in the State of North Carolina, at Mount Welcome, the homestead once of my maternal grandfather, Gen. Peter Forney. The Forneys were Whigs and actively aided in the Rev olutionary war. My uncle Abram Forney was a soldier and fought in many battles. On my paternal side, my people were not less patriotic.my grandfather Capt. James Johnston,' commanded the company, held in reserve at the battle of Kings Mountain, and render ed valuable service to the cause of lib erty. . After the usual preparatory course, I entered the University of North Carr olina, and graduated in 1857. In 1861 I was at the University of Virginia taking the law, course, when the South called her sons to arms. Returning to my home, I assisted in raising a company of infantry in which I was afterwards elected a sec ond lieutenant. The company wa3 sent to Jarysburg, N. C, and after a few months trainin:;, the Capt. resign ing and the first Lieut, having been promoted, I wa3 elected Captain. We were ordered to the front and reached Bull Run too late to partici pate in the engagement.. In May, 1862, upon the cxDiration of the term of service, the regiment of which my company was part, the 23rd North Carolina, I was elected Lieut. Colonel and thereafter participated in all the engagements- of the Army of North ern Viiginia, except when wounded. After the battle of Gettysburg, I was commissioned a Brigadier Gener al on September 1. 1803, and assumed command of my Brigade just before the battle of Mine Run. I was twice wounded in the battle of Seven Pines, ana ogam severely wounded at the battle of Gettysburg, and at Spottsvl- vania Court-house. I had four horses killed under me in the various battles of the army of Northern Virginia. The most conspicuous services my 1: rigf.de rendered during the time I commanded it, were in covering the retreat of Early's army after the de feat at Cedar Creek, when ws fought for thirty hours, night and day, and though demoralized as we were by de feat, the enemy gained no advantage over us. At the battle of Spott3jl vania Court-house, my brigade was the only troops in reserve, and we cap tured and restored the lines, from which., the -Federal army, had driven Generals Doles' and Daniels' brigades. This was done under the eye and in the presence of the Commander in Chief, Gen. Robt. E. Lee, and the Brigade re ceived his commendations on the field of battle. He honored the brigade by sending one of its officers with the flags we had captured and a letter oraiaing the gallantry of the brigade, to the Governor of North Carolina. It was my brigade that recaptured and restored the lines of the army, from which the "Stonewall brigade" had been driven; and retook the angle, in which Gen. Edward Johnston's di vision had been captured. It was in this charge th?t we found ourselves confronted by overwhelming numbers and the brigade laid down about twen ty steps in front of the enemy's lines, while Etill firing, two federal officers fro;.i the regiments in front of us ad vanced within a few paces of our line and commanded us to surrender. See ing that retreat was impossible with out annihilation, an officer sprang to the front of the brigade,seized one of the flags of the regiment, and gove the command, to charge. The brigade rose as one man, and such was the impetuosity of their onset, that the federal forces in fiont gave way, driv ing them before us, we entered the angle that had been occupied bv Gen. Johnston's division., and being then on the flank of the encn.y, they were forced to retire from our lines. The brigade at that time did not exceed twelve hundred effective men. At the battle of Winchester, the brigade occupied the Berrvville Road and held its position all day atrainst tremendous odds. It covered the re treat of the army that nierht In the battle of the wilderness, it captured the breastworks of the ene my m our front, penetrated the lines, and in the darkness found itself sur rounded by the forces of the enemy, j who had been pushed forward to re store their broken lines. Slipping! through their columns, we regained our position on the left-of the Con federate lines, without the loss of a man. In the battle of Hare's Hill, mv brigade was one of the columns chos en to .break the lines and capture the redoubts in our front. At the head of my command, I fell from the enemy's breastworks, and seriously sprained my ankle. After the battle I was compelled to take an ambulance, and in the retreat of the army towards Appomatox, I was cantured together with the whole line of wagons and am bulances,' by the federal cavalry, cut ting loose one of the mules from the ambulance, I rode back by a circuit uous route, organized and armed a force of non-combatants, consisting of teamsters and others, recaptured the line of wagons, and resumed my place in the ambulance. The next day the federal cavalry appeared in force on onr flank, with the aid of a gallant Texan soldier, who was' returning to his command armed, I halted and armed quarter master commissaries, surgeons and others, marched them out in the di rection the cavalry threatened us, They at once assumed that it was a guard of infantry attending the train, and desisted from any attack. Land ing at my home, without any knowl edge of the Surrender, proceeded the next-day to Charlotte, intending to render such service as I could in my disabled condition. At a bridge over the Catawba river, I encountered -a force of cavalry from Gen, Stoneman's command, then making a raid through that part of North Carolina. 1 tried - n I UW. JSVUVB vvuun-ini! W uivm, itv I LEGISLATURE Raleigh, Feb. 18. The house of Representatives, in committee of the whole, adopted 15 sections of the rev enue bill without material amend ments and continued its work on the bill tonight, The discussion brought out today, through Chairman Dough ton in charge of the bill, the state ment that the inheritance tax feature of the bill, sections six to 15, is ex pected to bring in $500,000 the com ing year in addition to $500,000 that will be received from the R. J. Rey nolds estate. The house reconsidered the vote : by which the bill to increase the pay of judges and registrars of elections to $3 per day was tabled Monday, and passed the bill ordering it enrolled for ratification, being u senate meas ure. - ! The following bills were introduced Tuesday:' H. B. 706: Love To provide for the erection of a new cou.-thouse in Lin coln. . H. B. 707:Love To apnoint a road superintendent for Lincoln county. H. B. 708:Love To fix salary of treasurer in Lincoln county. New bills introduced in the house Thursday: To prevent public school teachers from infecting school chil dren; to authorize Alexander county to issue $50,000 road bonds; to pro hibit the sale of rnsound eggs and provide for their classification; rela tive to payment for illicit stills de stroyed. Bill introduced in the senate Fri day: T amend the bw relative to the abatement of nuisances; to amend the primary election law; for repression of prastitution; obtain reports of per sons with venereal diseases; preven tion Of venereal diseases; to encour age holding farm cross to stabilize markets; to fix .'jurisdiction of crimi nal violations. LEAGUE OF NATIONS COVENANT Paris, Feb. 14. The reduction of armaments, the establishment of an international court of arbitration, the creation of an international military and naval force 0 police the world and protect the League's covenants ana a decision to effect a commercial and financial boycott against any pow er that disregards the league 'agree ments are the leading measures in the league constitution. Vast powers are delegated to the executive committee of nine members, five of these repre sentatives of the United States, the British empire, France, Italy and Ja pan, the other four states to be repre sented as yet being unnamed. Freedom of the seas is promised and all further treaties must be register ed with the league, thus eliminating secre'; treaties or alliances. ; Upon the military and naval programs, a per manent commission will be appointed to advise the lengue on disarmament and military and naval affairs. General piars for a permament inter national court- of justice are to be worked out by the executive council. In addition to delegates from nations an executive council and permament secretariat will be maintained at the seat of the league, "location yet un chosen". Each nation in the league will have one vote but not more than three delegates. The expense will be apportioned among the powers. Admis sion to the league will require a two thirds vote. Armaments will be re duced to the lowest point consistent with national safety. The people of the territories under the mandatories of the league shall endeavor to secure and maintain fair, humane conditions Old treaties inconsistent with the league will be abrogated as soon as the league comes to official life. The powers best able to do so will exercise tutelage over certain colonics under mandatories from the league. Any war or threat of war between members league or not will become the concern of the league and the pow ers reserve the right to interfere in all disputes not settled through ordin ary diplomacy, w . The first meeting of the league will he summoned by the President of the United States. The executive council shall eliminate the evils arisirig from outputs of arms and ammunition by private enterprises. - The nations in the league are for bidden to conceal sr.ch productions from each other. Twenty-one thousand soldiers have baen discharged froii the army as tubercular since the beginring of the war, the Senate buildings committee was told by Dr. W. G. Stimpson of the United Mates public health service. He said the history of tubercular pa tients indicated that t'ley would be in the hospitals one-thi-d of the time. Tentative plans of the public health service adding 2,000 beds to existing hospitals were described. The device of John Hays Hammond. Jr., for the radio control of surface raft to be sent, laden with explosives against enemy ships, has been pro nounced a success by army and navy experts. bridge from destruction. In the skir mish that ensued, I received a ball in my pocket book, which was only pre vented from going through my heart by a few pieces of coin. At Charlotte I was parolled. and a few years later, began the practice of . , law there. I enioyed a lucrative practice for more than twenty years. In 1887 I came to Birmingham where I have since resided. In 1871 I roarried Miss Lizzie John ston Evans, the daughter of Col. Pe ter G. Evans, Colonel of the 63rd N. C. cavrlry, who was mortally wounded at the battle 01 uppervnie. one wa al so the grand daughter of Gov. More head of North Carolina. We have four sons and four daugh ters living. The eldest, Lieut. Gordon Johnston, is now an officer in the 115th U. S. Cavalry. I have never sought or held politi cal office. I am a member of the Southern Presbvterian church, and have alwava j taken an active interest in its affairs.
The Lincoln Times (Lincolnton, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 20, 1919, edition 1
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