The
KINSTON
P
Si K
EE
PUBLISHED TWICE A WEEK WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS
SOL. XXXV No. 71 . KINSTON, N. G, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 1916 PRICE pIVE CENTS
TERRIFIC OFFENSIVE
lllEfflllKi) MILES ENEMY
xL
LINES TODAY;
Swiss Reports Positive That Teutons Intend
Assault on St Quentin,
Trebizond Will Fall Into
sistance,' Persian Advices
Trapped .Between Two Approaching Armies Paris h
Confident That Allies Will Hold Own In West Ger
mans Shifting Artillery and Greatest Struggle Yet Ex
pcted to Begin at Verdun
( (By the United Press)
LONDON, Feb. 29. Suddenly shifting their
attack, the Germans launched a heavy drive on
Verdun from the east, aiming to squeeze the
JTjjsjpneh out and threatening an enveloping move
ffttnk Frightful German losses are believed to
have caused the Kaiser to cease massed assaults
on Verdun. -
LONDON, Feb. 29. The decisive battle at Verdun is
beginning. Checked on Pepper Heights, the Germans
are bringing up their heaviest artillery to blast away the
treflches.. There has been indescribable slaughter at the
" rufyspf Douaumont The Teutons are today attacking
' along a hundred-mile front, after a lull due to the shifting
' of artillery. Paris is confident of the failure of the at
tacks, although expecting the Teutons to fight jdespera
' ly at the renewal. Swiss dispatches insist that the;Ver
: dun attack- was but. a diversion, and say the- Germans
- are ready for a great attack now on St. Quentin, only 60
miles from Paris.
Ottoman Forces Evacuating Trebizond.
Petrograd, Feb. 29, The Turks are hastily evacuat
ing the 'Black seaport of Trebizond and neighboring cit-
. - .t t
ipr hptnrp r.ne advance oi
' patches. The evacuation was necessitated by the ap
proach" of two Russian forces.
All Attacks Repulsed, Says Paris. .
PARTS'. "Feb. 29. All German attacks at Verdun dur-
1"ing the past 24 hours have
cially. The drench are entirely in coniroi oi uie wuuuy
surrounding Douamont. It is admitted that the Germans
have captured the village of Manheulles, eleven miles
from Verdun, and are driving now to force the evacua
tion of Verdun by a squeezing process. The loss of sev
eral trenches in Lorraine was admitted, but these have
been " recaptured, it is said. The heavy bombardment
continues. The Kaiser watched the Verdun battle today
in a fierce storm, despite the warnings of physicians,
prisoners said.
German Hospitals Crowded.
; LONDON, Feb. 29. Over forty-five thousand Ger
mans have been kiiled at Verdun, the central news says
a dispatch from Amsterdam. Eight thousand corpses
still1 hii0 two miles of-the front. Endless trains of the
wounded are arriving at Metz and the hospitals at Cob
lenta, Treves, Cologne and other German cities are over
flowing. German Report On Battle.
BERLIN, FEB. 29. The Germans have captured a
small armored Work northwest of Douaumont, itisoffi
cially said. 1 Nearly seventeen thousand prisoners have
been taken in the Woevre region, east of Verdun. The
Germans have passed Dieppe, Abacourt and Blancee, and
captured Manheulle and Chamlon.
BANKER RUNS MACHINE
OVER BOY; MAY DIE
Salisbury, Feb.' 28. With a crush
ed hip, a hole in his head and a bad
ly brtiised body, Joseph. Owen, a 7
j yearrtd son of Mr. and Mrs. G. W,
3 Owen of Salisbury" is in" a critical
; condition it a" ocal hospital tonight
aesqitfcf ing 'un tyet this f
, ternoon by a 5-passenger automobile
owned and driven ;by Mr. W: T. Bus
'fby, asslsta'rashiet of ,th Peopi??
- National Bank herev';'; 5 ' '
EL' T f
' fw f arvivrv f -
15 it i.AllU
JtbSTASTIZT REVOLT
Y.'a.-'
Diaz,
several
'ice re
. .cU-J
' 1' . '.:. U-'l.n.l JV
: l : t of J
i i - ::a. of
of 'American
has left the
mitral
iy. apparently"
S la t es . f or ' Mex ico w ' . h th e
'?. f launching1, a 'revululion
1 he.4Carranaide-facto, gov
e:'a" u Iormation' -reaching o(R.
eials here iiu;-,-:,t' that he ko,-s"to
"'l-11- 1 ; i a ' Jio tro;.3
naiive "i e, o.x,. , . ) . .
Lis
Jorr i ,n ,
: s Fi ; :.
OF THE GERMAN
TURKS EVACUATE CITY
Gigantic
Only 20 Leagues from Paris
Hands of Slavs Without Re
Say Garrison Would Be
1.1 t : fr:i;. Ae
me ivussians, sav muo uia-
been repulsed, it is said ofi
OFFICER KILLED BY MAN
HE SOUGHT TO ARREST
Rocky Mount, Feb 28. defying
arrest, George Collins, a young white
man of Faucette township, Halifax
county, yesterday fired upon and fa
tally wounded Deputy Sheriff C. M.
Hawkins. The young man was sought
on a warrant by the officer charging
him with having jumped a board bill,
and jwrith a shotgun opened fire, on the
officer, inflicting - a wound in he
stomach that resulted .. in Deputy
Hawkins' death within a few hours.
THEY SQUIRT $1,000,000
" WORTH OF PERFUME.
Kio de Janeiro, Feb. 28. All Bra
zil li preparing for the annual three
Jay Mrfrdi'Graa camlval,-early - in
Marth,. The Annual carnival cele
brated jji.Rio .de Janeiro, as a gorg
eous spectacl6 claims ; to far over
shadow that of Venice or of New Or
leans..' It is 'estimated that $1,000,
Odu.was spent on siphons of perfume
alone last year.
PECULIAR FACTS ABOU
Oh -V WELL KNOWN PEOPLE.
'.,' Washington, Feb. 29. Democratic
tor. !er Kitchin - wears a toothpick
J "ins from a corner of his mouth
v itea
a tiriar pipe, DiacK.Wlin agej j
id n't - in
its place. -" -, 1
PLANT MAKING GASES
FOR ALLIES BLOWN UP
Damage $50.000 Only One Man In
jured Company at Woburn, Mass
Had Received Threatening Let
ters and Employed Large Force of
Guards. But Could Not Prevent the
Explosion.
(By the United Press)
Woburn, Masa., Feb. 29. A thun
derous explosion today blew up a
building of the New England Manu
facturing Company, making gases
for the Allies' bombs. The company
had received threatening letters, and
the plant was heavily guarded. -The
building was blown high into the air.
The men escaped except one injur
ed. The loss will exceed $50,000.
GIRL BRIDE'S CRIME
BEING INVESTIGATED
. (Py the United Press)
Fort Worth, Texas, Feb. 29.
The defense of Mrs. Katherine
Harrison, fifteen-year-old bride,
rharged with the murder of W.
L. Warren, will be that he saved
the State the trouble of execut
ing him for assault. The defense
contends that she is a child, and
Cannot be tried, V
Fort Worth, Texas, Feb. 28. The
grand jury today began investiga
tion of the confession alleged to have
been made by Mrs. Katherine Harri
son that she shot and killed W. B.
Warrenj 'hotel proprietor- who, she
charged, had wronged her before her
manriage She 'became the - bride,
of Harrison, who is 20 years old, two
days after Warren's body was found
In a road near here December 22,
1915.
WHAT SOME OF THEM
Ap DOING WITH THE
EXTRA DM !N YEAR
(By the United Press)
Minneapolis, Feb. 29. Ten civic
organizations chose today, an unusu
al date, for launching a campaign
against mosquitoes, in this city sur
rounded by a State that has 10,000
lakes. It is planned to eliminate
every puddle in the state where wa
ter stagnates.
Dallas, Tex., Feb. 29. Three bish
ops. Luther E. Todd of St. Louis, W.
R. Lahbuth of Birmingham, Ala., and
E. E. IIoss of Muskogee, Okla., were
here today to aid In planning the
Methodist membership campaign to
be inaugurated in Texas and New
Mexico, March 12.
Tulsa. Okla., Feb. 29, Tulsa busi
ness men selected the extra day ' in
the year to celebrate Prosperity Day.
in addition to the usual carnival fea
tures, a battery of public speakers
will tell Tulsa what a regular city it
is.
ELECTION BATTLE
OVER RACE PROBLEM
(By the United Press)
St Louis, Feb. 29. After a stiff
legal fight against the holding of an
election on the subject, St. Louis vo
ters today are deciding by ballot
whether negroes here ehall be com
pelled to live-within residential dis
tricts selected for them. The Segre
gation Bill, as the plan is called,
would prevent whites . and negroes
from living In the same blocks . and
would compel White persons to move
from their homes in blocks the ma
jority of whose residents are negroes.
Negroes would he prohibited from
living In blocks in which the major
ity of the residents are white. Should
segregation win, negroes and white
Interests opposed to the proposed law,
will attack it as unconstitutional, they
said today, on the ground that it is
discriminatory., ' ;
DAYIE COURTHOUSE AT
! "MOCKSVBiE BURNED
Winston-Salem, Feb., 28. The Da
vie county courthouse at Mocksville
was' destroyed by fire tonight " The
origin is not known. The building
was erected five years ago ami cost
over thirty thousand dollars. A one-
wee term oi uie superior iuuri
opened thejeJ-t-'-'V -
SAYS BRYAN CERT'N
TO UPHOLD WILSON
AT THE CONVENTION
Will Attempt Nothing to
Embarrass President, De
clares Democratic State
Chairman of Nebraska
After Talk With Bryan
(By United Press)
Washington, Feb. 29. The uphold
ing of Wilson by Bryan for renomin-
ation is expected to lead to a solid
Nebraska delegation to the conven
tion in favor of Wilson, lie won t
seek to injevt into the platform pre
paredness nor the diplomatic policy
for repudiating Wilson, it is authori
tatively stated by Judge W. 11.
Thompson, the Nebraska State chair
man, following a visit to Mr. Bryan
at Miami. Judge Thompson is a per
sonal political friend and adviser of
Mr. Bryan. The people, misunder
stand Bryan, he said.
DAVID EVANS TAKEN
IN PAMLICO COUNTY
IS NEW BERN STORY
.- (Special' to The Free Press) u.
- New Bern, Feb. 29- David
Evans, negro slayer of Joe Mc
Lawhorn, superintendent of Pitt
county roads, is understood to
have been taken in Pamlico county-
PROGRESS OF THE ,
SUPERIOR COURT
(Daily Free Press, February 29)
Hughes vs. Moseley, an action con
cerning a note, was concluded in Civil
Superior Court today, the jury find
ing for the defendant, colored, in all
the issues.
THE ODDEST STOltY
IN THE DAY'S NEWS
Dallas, Tex., Feb. 29. Mayor II .
D. Lindsley celebrated his tenth
birthday today. He would be forty
four years old had he been born one
dsy earl;er. As it is, he has a birth
day only once every four years, anil
1900 being a centennial vear he had
none from 1890 to. 1904. It wan
chiefly 'hrciigh' Mayor Lindsley's in
fluence that Dallas made the ?100t-
000 offer for the Democratic national
convention.
(By the United Press)
SHIP SUNK BY MINE.
Copenhagen, Feb. 29. The
Gothepburg steamer Knippla, of
500 tons, has been mined south
of Falsterbo, outside , Swedish
territorial waters. Fifteen of
the crew and two women passen
gers were saved.
THOUSAND PROBABLY LOST
WITH SINKING SHIP.
! Paris, Feb. 29. The French
auxiliary, cruiser Provence, sunk
in the Mediterranean Saturday,
it is officially reported. A thous
and persons are believed to have
been lost Eight hundred were
saved. . ,-
'Ten boats are at the scene of
the disaster seeking survivors.
, The Provence was formerly a
trans-Atlantic liner. Some sur
vivors have been landed at Mal
ta, some on the Greek island of
Melos. ' -
AT LEAST SIX DEAD
IN MINE EXPLOSION
Cumberland, ML, Feb. 29.
Sis Persona are reported to be
.dead and twenty injured, bur
led under debris' by an explosion
in the Davis Coal and Coke Com-
HUNDREDS OF HIGH
SCHOOL ORATORS TO
DERATE DIG ISSUE
'Preparedness" to Be Dis
cussed In Spring State
wide Contest Aycock
Cup to Winning School
After April 14
(Special to The Free Press)
Chapel Hill, Feb. 2'J. The ques
tion of preparedness will be thresh
ed out in ,'t25 North Carolina high
schools thin spring. Already 2,000
young leiaters in me ciaie nign
schools, from Murphy, Cherokee
county, in tilt' west, to Manteo, Hart-
county, m the cast, arc working on
the question, "Unsolved. That the
United Slates should adopt the pel
u-y c,1 greatly increasing its navy.
On March :U, l.'.'OO of these debat
ers, who will nave ueen cnosen as re
presentatives in preliminaries held in
their respective high schools, , will
meet in a State-wide debate on this
question of preparedness, th occa
sion being1 the annual triangular con
test of the High " Sihiwl- Debating
Union. Each debating team entera
this contest with the view of win
ning the Aycock Memorial Cup, the
trophy provided by tho inter-collcgi-ate
debaters-. of the University -.of
North Carolina. " - 4
Each school enrolled for this eon-
test is grouped with two others for
a triangular debate '' every 'school
having a1 team -on the, affirmative
side of the question and one on the
negative,' The schools winning both
debates send their (representatives to
,-Chapel Hill to compete for the Ay
cock Cup in the final contest to be
held here April 14. ! !
" The High -School1 Debating Union,
conducted hy the Bureau of Exten
sion and the Dialectic and Philan
thropic literary societies of the Uni
versity of North Carolina, was or
ganized in 1012-13. In the first year
if the union's existence, 90 schools in
40 counties took part in the debates,
end the Pleasant Garden High School
of Guilford county, won the cup. In
1914, 150 high schools in 64 coun
ties 'participated and the Winston
Salem high School was awarded the
cup. Last year 250 high schools in
90 counties entered the contest and
tho Wilson high school was the win
ner of the cup.
PROMISES TO REVEAL
BIG GRAFT IN CHICAGO
Chicago, Feb. 28. Asserting that
the Easlon-Rowe graft controversy
was a minor event compared to reve
lations which he would make Seymour
Stedman, attorney for Mrs. Waller
Page Eaton, former head of the So
cial-Welfare Department, who has
charged she had heen compelled to
give up part of her salary for tho
benefit of a -member of Mayor Wil
liam Hale Thompson's family, today
declared he would bring forth a wit
ness who would reveal extensive Sal
ary splitting Jn. the city hall.
Today's hearing on the Eaton-Rowe
case itself developed little of interest.
HENRY JAMES, NOVELIST,
DIES BRITISH CITIZEN
London, Feb, 28. Henry James,
the novelist, died today.
Henry James was born an Ameri
can but died a IJntisn subject, in
July, 1915, he took the oath of alle
giance to the Crown, explaining that
he had lived and worked in England
for forty years and ' had developed
such an attachment for the country
and eympathy with its people that
he desired to throw his moral weight
and personal allegiance into the Brit
ish cause in the European war.
BUFFALO BILL AT
v t 71ST MILESTONE TODAY
Cody, Wyo., Feb. -28J Colonel Witt,
F. Cody,"Buffalo Bill," Indian ecout,
showman and -character dear to the
hearts of the youngsters of three gen
erations, U hale and hearty at his
he;:
sec
t
IU 71 n birthday.
AURORA WANTS SEMI-
PRO. BASEBALL ASS'N
First Town to Itexpond to Proposi
tion for League is Smallest Con
sidered Believed Likely Combi
nation Would Be kinxlon, Crct-n-ville,
Washington, Aurora, Wil
liumston, Plymouth
(Daily Free Press, February 29)
Aurora, the smallest town of the
eight proposed by lawyer Lindsay
Warren for the semi-pro. East Caro
lina League, is the first to respond to
the proposal. "We will be there with
hells on," was the message that
Warren has had at Irs office in Wash
ington from the Aurora fans. That
town will employ four professional
men, that being the maximum per
mitted in Warren's plan, and will
guarantee a self-supporting club.
Aurora has not a thousand pulia
tion. It will send u dozen represen
tatives to ilie meeting in Washington
March IT..
Copies of Mr. Warren's circular
letter forwarded to Kiiwton funs out
line his scheme in full. "1 believe
that if this plan is adopted, tile ex
pense-f attached thereto will be very
smnll and thnt the league will be
praetioally self-supporting,", he says
"A schedule of fifty games would be
sufficient" each team playing two at
home and two abroad every week." He
would like to see at least six team
iff the association, although he has ad
dressed interested parties in eight
towns. The safest combination that
could he dpvisod, probably, would be
Klnston, ' Greenville, Washington,
Aurora,? Plymouth' and Willlamsiton,
the last :. named . three being . small
places but ''enthusiastic ' and willing
to put up the money." ' '
ENGLAND FEELS QUITE ;
CHESTY OVER ITS BIG ;
ARMY NOW IN HARNESS
By WILBUIl S. FORREST,
Louden, Feb. 1(5 (By Mail There
is a brand new germ in the British
air. Atmospheric utoms that hud
the general effect of something aUin
to gloom several months ago and
which prompted British statesmen
and public alike to speak less con
fidently about the final outcome of
the war, have disappeared. These
atoms have been replaced by bright
er colored atoms; peppy, optimistic
1 i i tie tikes.
From the big government buildings
in Whitehall to the smallest London
shop there is a marked change in the
conversnftion. Every man in the
street knows that Britain is getting
ready for the big show. The aver
age Britisher still throws out his
chest if the navy is mentioned, but
today he will show a broader ex
panse of shirtfront when it comes to
talk about the army. The predomin
ant topic of interest has become the
Tommies.
With about 4,000,000 men in khaki,
England is preparing to do things in
the spring, on land. That is com
mon talk. No Britisher has lost any
of his confidence in the Navy, but
he has given up hope that the Ger
man fleet will come out and fight, so
he is leaving the navy to control the
seas and taking foir granted that it
will.
Cabinet members, peers and plebl-
ans alike look forward to the epring
campaign. The government 'leaders
who six months ago modified their
earlier pronouncements that ' "(jer-
many must be crushed?1, to the "gen
tler assertion, that "the war cannot
cese until the enemy has evacuated
France and Belgium and restored the
rights 'of smaller nations" are today
reasserting the . former statement
with vigor. ' The reason is said to be
new confidence in the army.
0. P. HEATH; CHARLOTTf
COTTON RlAN, SUICIDES
Charlotte Feb. 28. O. P, Heath,
senior member of the cotton firm, of
O. P. Heath & Co., shot and killed
himself in his office here today. - He
was one of th a oldest merchants in
the cotton business in this section and
one of the largest operators. Two
years ago. he met financial reverses,
but was apparently doing a thriving
business at this time. He was about
60 years cTd and leaves a family, also
several brothers, who are prominent
cotton manufacturers in tliia section.
ANOTHER CALL DOWN
FOR V. BERNSTORFF
FROM SECY LANSING
Head of State Department
Does Not Like "Impro
per Publicity"
REBUKE IN A STATEMENT
Remarks That Quotations
From Latest Memorand
um From Berlin Made
Public In U. S. Did Not
Come from Officiate
(By the United Press)
Neve York, Feb. 29. The go
ing into effect of the merchant. !
men decree ia new a matters of
. hours. : Eight big lipera are re Vj
. ' dy to sail .from here with hun r
dreds of passengers. Six Itali
n vessels have armed at New '.
York and are now ready to salL -y
, Several chips are now In the war
. (tone.' V t
" Washington, . Feb.' 29-5ecreUry
Lansing today administered another
direct - rebuke to Ambassador VVon
Bornstof for : what he believes ta
he ' improper publicity. : lie issued a
statement .' announcing that state
ments of the contenU of the German
memorandum outlined by Von Bern--storff
yesterday were not made pub
lic by himself, ' nor Uie depairtiment
mndi preflsinifs the Department' Ay
views ef ' the -i memorandum.' v.The .'f- ;
statement loiiowea tne pnnung tnw
morning' of, '.JpnjjjQrted. paragraphs " "
'rom":'the meniorandun. wi''--
.... i . - .
mr; : jjansing conxsrrea wicn rresi
dent Wilson today preceding the cab '
net meeting. v ' '
The text of the German memorsn .
dum obtained by the United Press
says Germany will keep its pledge
made in tho Lusitania .matter, ao fa 'i
as peaceful merchantmen " aire eon 4 ;
cerned, but that the presence of guns ' t
implies intent to resist. Sabmarine
can't warn liner if the liner plans to
fire, the memorandum isays, and cites
a secret British admiralty order to
attack submarines. The reason far
submarines is that they fear attack.
AMERICAN MURDERED ,
BY YILUSTAS, SAID
Washinulon, Feb. 29. Grover
C. Vurn, an American, has been -murdered
' at Pome, Durango,
Mexico, by Villistas, says a State
Department report Labor con-
ditions in the .Mexican capital
are unsettled. " V
HAITI IS NOW A REAL
PROTECTORATE OF U S.
Washington, Feb. 28. -The Senate
nto today unanimously ratified tho
treaty with Haiti undear which , the
United States assumes a protectorate .
over the turbulent ." ' island republic, , a
tAking over control of its finances r
and police!, ;. guaranteeing its jterrito 4 !
urn iiii-gruy hu unaeriasmg io ae-
olop Us resources. '- The treaty hsa'
alteadybeen approved hy the Haitiea ;..,
Congress and'tts terms virtually are "
in operation under the eye of a strong -
American marine expedition. . v
FIRE IN LUMBER" HILL' .
V EARLY THIS EIDJIZG
(Daily Free Press, February 29)
The East Kinston. Company exUng
ished a small fire at Hines Bros.' Lum
her Mill, .East Kinston, at' 5 a. m.
today, before the downtown firemen
arrived. The blase was in a boiler-
room at the plant, damaging the roof
some. ' The damage was- stated to be
slight. - The firemen responded in a
rain, ' ' .-
The Pitt county HepuLIlony j
nrday in' a alwvt convent' i r
ed delegates i) t' a '
lior-, N t t
hi
!.., -
IN
hi "
i 1
- hi
I u
r is
it is not at all surprising that within
rcl'y
la