GOV. BICKETT TALKS
TO ASH COUNTY PEOPLE
Blame* Action of draft »wd«n t
oh Ignoranca and Fait* In
formation.
Jefferson, June In opening I.is
speech here today Governor Hickctt
■•id: "Men of the mountain: I
<**m* '• y»o t«<lay to nave and not
to destroy. I come to save the fair
»»me of a county in which the whol.
state takes, ant! of which I have ever
spoken with, peculiar pride. I come'
to save to yon, men of the mountain*.,
your birthright of h»nor and chivalry;,
I come to rave wayward and willful
boys 'mm the <ad and certain conse
quences of^itrnorance and sin.
"My heart i yearns after these boy*
even ai the heart of David yearned
after Absalom. Absalom had in him
the elements of n hem. He was lienu
tiful in form and brilliant m mind, but
he listened to the whisperings of evil
spirits. He deserted the house of his ■
father; he rebelled against the law of!
Israel; he died as the fool dieth, and'
the king cried aloud: 'Ablnlom, my
*nn. wotilrl to Hod r had died fw the."
Continuing Governor Rirkett »«id:
"Already In North Tarolina three
young men. one in Jackson, one in
Pit and one in Ashe have followed in 1
the footsteps of David's son. Like
Absalom they have died as the fool
«lleth. nnd to save others from this
tragic and hameful end, I am hen
today.
Probes for the Reason.
"I have tried honestly to get at the'
real cause of this inrovely situation.1
I have put to my soul the question:'
'Why .to there men seek to hurt their,
"unty J?heo *v*ry hand should be,
fcenwse they are afraM to light. The
mountaineer loves a scrap. He would
Juat a little rather flght than not, for
the same money.
"It ia not because they are unwill-'
ing to do or to give their share. JJo
where on earth will you find truer
hospitality than right here in these!
hills, and if you were to tell any man
in this crowd that he was unwilling toj
pull his end of the single tree, to tote
hia end of the log; that he was a
stacker, who wanted to saddle his job
on another man's shoulders, you
would—well in a few minutea—you
would devauUy wio that you had
been born with sense enough to keep
your mouth shut,"
"I speak whereof I know." declared'
the governor. "I have spent much
time in these hills, have walked with
you along rushing mountain torrents!
and over rug?cd mountain slopes, and
I know your hospitality and the real
joy you take in doing your own part
and in helping another fellow along.
I um forced to the conclusion that
there mountain boys are giving
trouble because they have not been
told the truth about this war. and
because they have be-n told a lot of
lie* about it. Ignorance and misin
formation is at tho bottom of all thia
trouble ar.d a!l thia shame.
"It is ray purpose in kindness and
in —iter to lay Kef ore yoo the ever
lasting truth about thin war and to
strip nak ed in all their ugliness the
lies that have been peddled nut to
these boys." „
The chief executive continued his
speech enumerating the atrocrities of
the Huns, in each instance supporting
his rlaim of barbarism perpetrated
upon humanity by them, and in clear,
coacise and forceful language justi
fied the position of oar '.and in this
titanic struggle. The influence of his
masterful address and rppral to the
flover and manhood of the land was
widespread, and already the influence
of V* cuaring here ts greatly felt.
It ie commonly under»to«d that the
gwvern'ir decided to come here after
raeeivins the report iA Adjutant Gen
eral Youig who has been here investi
gating the nc.oal situation. As yet
tit* governor has net made public
what action he will take to bring hi
the deaartara, which now numhar
•round forty, including actual deeert
ers from army ampa and technical
daatertera. Ha however uppeari to
hava thua far remained Arm in hia
convicition that military u*ni*tanca
xhould only ha reaoicad to after othar
methods have failad. In ronvaraation'
here fiovemor llirkatt naid: "It la
my enrneat da*ire that thane hoya ran
I* Induced Into service through <trm
rillatory meaaurea, and I Khali peraoe
every <-lfnrt to that end. Rut nhuuld
civil and peaceful method" prove un
nvaillntr, I hi:ll iee to it that every
one of them la placed In the handa of
the authoritlae if it take* the entire
military power of the 4tata."
Ijiteat information haa it that the
majority of the forty deartera, now
lurking in mountain reeemea, are
nrmed. Aa yet it h«a not heen deter
mined hnw well organised the hand or
handa are, hut it I* generally helleved'
that the entire number it not in one
llMlfe •
ENEMY STUNG, NOW
PREPARING HARD BLOW
Americana Are Ready For the
Hunt to Strike.
With the American Force* on the
Murne, June .10.—F.xcm ive move
merits of troop* and material! north
of Chateau Thierry together with the
increased artillery and aerial activity,
from the baitii of the belief that
American forces in this locality may
lie called upon to defend them Helve* in
the near future.
Long streams of enemy troops and
wagon train* have been observed in
the neighborhood of the Bonne* wood.
There have bean more than 50 enemy
>tntt| rtyhti y*tr (hi Amtnew lUuMwi
m>rtw of CI*tern. Thierry h. he'
last 24 hear*. One Carman machine
wan »hot down by »ur anti-aircraft
gun*.
The American artillery ha* heavily
shelled many vital and active spot*
within the enemy line*, once obtain
ing a direct hit in a detachment of
marching German*.
American* Are rRady.
Kor day* the American* have been
expecting thnt the enemy. *fung by
the defeat administered to him re
cently on this front wnuld make a vig
orous asPBuIt'upon the American for
ces, and it was partly for this reason
that the American operation* in the
Belleau section were carried out.
With these operations completed, the
Americans now hav« the country for
several miles in front of them under
their eyes and guns and can see what
is developing. In consequence, when
the expected blow corner they will be
much better prepared to meet it.
The American troops have made all
preparation* and the Germans will
get an exceedingly warm reception if
they try what the situation today in
dicate* they have in mind. The Amer
ican* say thnt no matter where the
enemy Jt.rikcs ho»i« hound to pay
dearly for hi* effort and that the big
ger the target jhe better the Ameri
can force* will like it.
the east of Chateau Thierry
along the river Marne, except for con
stantly increasing long range shelling
on both sides comparative quiet reigns
There has been no patrolling because
the bright moonlight on the water
prevent* a crossing but the American
sniper* have been to active in the
laat four days that the Germans rare
ly ever make an appearance.
Notice to Thrashers.
Owing to the faot that th« wheat
crop hat b«—n haixtjted earlier ihn
j-ear than unual and the further fst-t
that tha supply of flour is almost ex
hausted, after consultation with the
c mmittee slid the Food Administra
tin at Ra'fizh, it is derided that the
thi-a«heri can hegin on the l'Kh of the
month instead of the lfith. Thrashwrs
rill pleas* govern themselves arcard
n*»y.
This Joljr 2nd. l»t>.
W F CARTER, Co. Food Admr.
SENSATION IN HUNGARY
LOSSES ARE ANNOUNCED
"No Lack of Ammunition"
Premier; "Lack of Pood,"
Declaree Deputy.
AnnlfiUm, fun* SO.—Dr.Alexan
der Wrkerle, the Hungarian premier,
rauaed a nenmatiun in parliament Sat
urday when a declaration regarding
(he A uatro-Hungarian loaaaa in the
laat Italian >iffen*ive, according to a
Ilu<tapei<t dispauh received here to
day. The premier Kaid that during
the laat few <laya exciting rumor*
were being circulated regarding the
loaeea. These rumor*, he declared
were much exaggerated, lite Aua
tro-Hungarian armiea were with-j
drawn on the Plave front in order to
■pare live*, he declared, nince they
mu»t have auntained very great loaitea
had they held that line.
"But how great are our loaaes?"
interrupted Deputy Zlinaky.
"The number of prisoners taken
wai recently staled to lie 18,000 the
premier rrplied. "I must, however,
correct that statement. The truth ia
that the Italians have taken 12.000,
while 50.000 Italian* fedl into our;
own hand*. In the rase of an of-j
fensivc and a retreat thin figure can
not be termed axcessively high.
Much sadder ia the Ions we suffered
in dead, wounded and' nick, mostly
sick. In the tenth and eleventy Ita
lian offensive* we lout 80,000 to 100,-1
000 men. Now, however, our losses]
are -tiatilar, about 100,000 men."
(•raat excitment in the chambor
marked thin declaration. The premier!
continued:
"1 am obliged to record this re
Ptave thf uppermost unfortunately
collapsed and then both of the others
were carried away with it. This fi
gure includes the fallen, the slightly
wounded and those brought back as
in effectives."
A great uproar interrupted the pre
mier and there were cries of "they
were ail Hungarians." When quiet
was restored. Premier Wekerle con
tinued:
"I mentioned these figures in order
to describe the t ituation with per-fect
sincerity. Also, because our enemies
will certainly portray these losses in
an exaggerated fashion and perhaps
also our public opinion.
"There alto are tumors circulating
that on this occasion also Hungar
ian troops were called upon in ex
cessively large numbers and that the
losses fell upon them only. There
fore. I must point out that 33 Hungar
ian and 37 Austrian regiments parti
cipated in the entire offensive and re
treat. or 47 per cent. Hungarian and
53 Austrian.
"In (he entire advance and retreat
the Italian losnes amounted to 150,
008, far surpassing our looses in dead
wounded and nick.
"A report also i.« being circulated
that our lomtes were due to a lark of
ammunition.
A duputy here ahuuted: "Lack of
food."
The premier relied to this by de
claring that "our army never was to
well prot ided with ammunition ■ as
j during the middle of June."
"It i» true" the pt«raier added "that
of three bridge*. thrown across the
Piave, the uppermost unfortunately
collapsed and then both of the other*
were carried away with it. Thus, un
urmnuntable difficulties arwe in
| bringing up proviuie^s during the sen
sational retreat, which followed ac
; curding to th« regular plan and only
a few troop* who remained behind,
1 wh i covered tfts retreat, fell into Ita
lian hands. The entire retreat was
, carried out in such an orderly and un
1 observed manner tWat the Italian*
continued their attack* on our poai
liona.
"If, daapiU these regrettable events
I I draw deduction* from the whole it
I ia art to ba doubted that w» bi flirted
[ import .nt Iouh on the Italians and
prevented them from sanding t Con
siderable p*rt of their troop* to tktj
WHUrn front, which, in the wUmt
of tha common conduct of tha war, la
undoubtedly tha objective which it,
wa* ixir duty to attain. Thi* aim, too |
wa attainad."
Could Turn out 10,000
A*ri«l Dreadnaufhti.
New York, June 29.—The claim
that llandlay I'ufi, tha British air- j
plana ronatructor, could turn out 10,-'
MM) "nuperaarial dreadnaughta" in tha
United State* by April 1, 1919, wa*
made in a formal statement tonight
by W. H. Workman; ipecial repre-.
sentative in thi* country of Hand'oy i
Pa ire, Ltd.
Thane plane*, Mr. Workman de
clared, could ha landed in France un
der their own power, with enough
[rutin, bomb* and aviator* "to defeat
th> German* within .10 to 60 day*, if1
we start now."
After announcing that he had ac-l
quainted the war department and the!
aircraft board with thi* proposition,
Mr. Workman raid he believed none)
of the 10,000 plane* would be lo»t in!
trans-Atlantic flights, and that, with
a Hritiah and an American aviator;
he would be willing to make the first
flight, proceeding from Newfound-'
land to Krnnce, via the Azores and!
Portugal.
Asserting that he consilient this
route the best, he explained that a
7,000-foot volcano in the Azores would
■frfc on* guide and suj? Rested
that "at least ten destroyer* in a
Mtate of obeolesdence could be stretch-'
ed out to act as lightships," so that i
"pilots of the airplanes would never'
be out of sight of a destroyer, togath- j
"One* this is started," he said,
"there will be a continuous chain ofj
airplanes connecting the United j
States with the continent of Europe, I
from early morning untii late at night
one machine leaving every ten minu-'
tes, every day."
Mr. Workman said that Mr. Page
could bring here a staff of expert de
signer* and turn out the machines in
factories in Cleveland, Buffalo, De
troit and Grand Rapids, deliveres to,
start December 1, 1918.
He added tlat in three days these'
planes could be flawn from the mid-i
die went to France, saving many tons i
of shipping.
These 10,000 airplanes, he de-'
.•lared, could drop 38.000 tons of ex-1
plosives on and behind the German
lines each rruht, or the equivalent of
38,000 shells from the "biggest guns
yet constructed."
General Carleton Grants
Clemency to Two Soldiers
Spartanburjj, S. C., June 29.—Clem
ency was shown two private* st Camp
Wadsworth convicted by general
court-martial when Brig. Gen. Guy
Carleton, conmmanding the corps and
army troops, reviewed the cases. One
sentence was reduced by half snd the
other sentence entirely aside.
Charged with being absent without
leave from May 10 to May 23, Pr.vate
Anthony Folevillano of*j»t»parry T.,
of the Second Pioneer infantry, has
been sentenced to serve a year at
hard labor by a general court-mar
tial. Felevillano win have to serve
but hulf thut time as General Carle
ton, the reviewing offlccr in the case,
reduced the sentence to nix months.
Private Leo R. Pickles of company'
B, Third Pioneer infantry, who was
convicted by a general court-martial
on a charge of assaulting Private Cal
vin R. A. McKenzie, of the same or
irnrtiation, and who was sentenced
to serve three years* imprisonment at
hard labor, han been restored to duty.'
General Coleton m reviewing the case
decided the evidence submitted wa;'
not »u®cient to establish the guilt of
Pickles, beyond a reasons Me doubt,
and for that reason ordered him r
stored to duty.
A TAR HEEL LAD
ENJOYS FIGHTING.
I* a 3oldi*r of Fortun* u Well
aa a SoldUr of Unci* Sam,
And « SpUndid On* too.
By H. K. Bryant In Otrlottt Obnar
v«r.
Washington. June 29.—Alexander
Taylor, ion of Dr. and Mr*. I. M. Tay-1
lor, of Mnrgantnn la wmewhere In
Kranra, hunting 'I'rmanr Ha la *ix
feat, two inche*, in hia stocking*, »n<l
freckled, fore and aft. Ha »tar»i ■
erect, like a p'na, and w*»r« a daterm- j
lna«l look upon Kia fate. Behind Ilia!
rugged featurae thai* |( a <-•«>! head,
a warm heart and a keen sense of
humor.
Not long ago, t rama upon I.ieut
enant Taylor. atanding on F utreet
rubbering at th* girl* who promenade!
on that faahioi.ahla throughfare, and
I thought what a formidable opponent'
he would ha, armed with a gun,
bayonet and a butcher knife. He aaid j
he wni on the way to the front, and
hia aonrtant prayer waa that the I/ord
should give iiim more power and an
early opportunity to confrort a Hun..
I.ieutenant Taylor i« ■'well known!
in North Carolina and Tenneaaee,1
where he went to vhool and worked. |
He haa the reputation of being clever,
daring and a hit reckles*. At col
lege he ahunned hooka, and took to
the outdoor*. For that reason he
spent a while at Davidson and anoth
er while at the uni\'er*ity. hut did not
graduate. He took hia education
where he found it, and he is well
equipped.
No 100ner had the United States
entered the war than did Alexander
Taylor enlist for the war. He quit
the work of an array engineer.
In a recent lettw; to his mother.
Lieutenant Taylor sized up the situa
tion in France as far as she is con-1
remed in the folowing sentence: "I
like it very much nwer here, and you
need not worry ahout me."
Lieutenant Taylor is a soldier of
fortune, with a love for his native;
land.
"The French people are ahout a* I
expected to And them." wrote Lieu-1
tenant Taylor. "One sees only the'
very old and the very young here;
that, suppose is on account of the
war.
"Men here scramble for pennies,
juat *a children do back home. While1
on the boat, before disembarking we
amused ourselves throwing pennies to
a scow full of them. All the chil
dren beg for money and when they riee
any one coming they hold out their
hands. Nearly all the time children
are running out to give us flowers.
"Over near the port where we land
ed the children wear wooden shoes—
so do the frown people—and when
they start down street they sound like
runaway horses.
"The American troops over here
are in the finest sprite, and those
who have been'to the front say that
they like it a lot.. They like it so
much that they have counted up how
many hours it will be before they go
back, just as we school boys used to
count the beforejjjre .were to start
home for Christmas.
"There aren't* many of the hoy*
who jfet hurt at tha front. 1 figure
there isnl much more danger there
than there is anywhere else. If one
get* hurt it is an accident, just like
being struck by lightning."
Lieutenant Taylor had a jolly time
on the way over; he had charge of
»ome North Carolinia neyro draftees.
"The trip orer," said he, "was very ^
pleasant. Two days of rough weather
made quite a number sick. Durir.g
the rest of the journey the ocean was
nothing to do hut go to life-boat drill'
and to stand watch once for four |
hour*. The rest of the time I was
either reading or sleeping.
"It was mightly uncomfortable
aboard for everybody. There were
four (Ceeri In a»y state r»»as. which
was about ouekalf the sin* of the^
■•win* room at horn* It had to ho
•hut «o aa to keep lifht f-om roHi|
out. Rathinf* facilitisa wera poor;
we had only alt water ah o wera. Tito
nou waa rood.
"The laat three daya we had to atajr
fully ilraaaad at all timea, and to wear
our Ufa praaarvara, wh»rh waa not
vary comfortable. If the ahip had
)>e«n run k tt would have boon my
duty to go overboard on a raft with
a hunch nf negrnee.
"On tha taet nlfht out the «ubraa
rine -Iran a'nrtad up about !! o'clock
and we could tall the >hip w» mak
ing emergencf «peed We got to our
placea, ready Hi (jo over the «ide, and
stayed there for houra.
"Ut»r we !i>arn«l that una of the
•hip* in our rnnvoy aighted a aub 25
feet off it* ile. The ileatroyer took
care of it. while we Iwat it ahead.
"I don't believe thnt the «nba have
a chance in tha world of getting a
tranaport except by Kacriftfing them
• 've* and thoae Huna like to live Joet
aa much ac anybody elaa. So I don't
think tha United Htatea will lose many
tranaporta. TVry do not take a
chance.
"There were quite a number of
negroea on t*e ahip- aomc of them
from Morvanton. Moat of thero were
from the country, ami ignorant of tha
waya of the outride world. I certain
ly did feel "orry for them, because,
you know, tome of them had never
been away from home before, and lota
of them were eaiick. A negro prea
cher anim; tl.etn held prayer meet
ing;- every i.ight. it w»u an old
time prayer meeting, and it interested
everybody on boanl. Tlie preacher
»aid hia preaching saved the ahip."
The next sentence shows tbe heart
of Lieutenant Taylor.
"Shmld you taaar any of thaDegrnaa
speaking of their boy* who ware
drafted and *ent to Camp Grant, you
might *ay to them that they are all
aafe in France now." he wrote. "They
are non -combatants."
In writing hi* mother Lieutenant
Taylor gave a great wealth of detail
about what he aaw in France after
landing. He agreed with Lieutanant
May Murphy that France ia a beauti- ^
ful country, with elegant people and
pretty flower*.
American Casualties Has
, Thus Far Total 10,383.
Washington, June 30— Ca.«ualties in
the American expeditionary forces
thus far reported total 10.3S3, sum
maries issued today t>y the war de
partment and marine corps how., Of
this number 9,131 were in the army
and 1,252 in the marine corps.
Army casualties including those
reported today, were summarized a*
follows:
Killed in action (including 291 lost
at sea), 1,491.
Died of wounds, 479.
Died of diseases, 1,287.
Died of accidents and other causes,
466.
Wounded in action, 5,024.
Missing in action (including prison
ers). 385.
The summary of casualties among
the marines, which also included to
day's list, follows: $
Deaths, 407.
Wounded, 842.
In hands of the enemy, 1.
Missing, 2.
Four hundred and ninety-eeran
. atualtiee in the army were reported
durinff the week, including I7f Wilted
in art ion, 47 died of wound*. 19 (Had
of diaeaaa, 19 died of acr'dent and
other caumw, 21.1 wounded in action
and 20 miaeing is action, mcludia*
pH.wner*. The week before 54t ea»
ualtiee were reported.
The marine corps nummary did not
.how how many rJ tae death* report