in Mountain Area
Causes Enormous Loss
problem of A.bevillel
water »apvt>. It to the ImM aoftoao
phaae of eondltiona that arto* from
the fart that no rain baa fallen *«t
of the Blur Ridge Mountain* since
last May. Aahevtlto. if the worst
comae to the fnnt, can go wham
there to water, toit the 180,000 peo
ple who make their Iteiag farming hi
this territory cannot asm.
Literally the country to parched to
* crisp to aw a. Craps almoet aeery
whers, saw in the low bottom lands,
are a total toas. The thousands of
arras of grazing toad that aappert
hard. Th* graas to (W. Ther* to
no pas tuts far th* aattl*. Already
hay to bring imported to f*ed them
plenty of graaa.
raraat Dying
are dying. Vast araaa at cheetoot,
th* meat valuable natural n sourts of
thto coon try, are dying aad tui stog
a don yellow htuwa six weeks ahaad
of the season when the Croat a*naHy
tarns the moantalns into a riot of
gold and yellow. Bar* and there th*
drab brown to blotched with a flame
•of crimson, map!* tarned rod oat of
River* and creeks and braoka an
•dried vp. Straaau that have never
failed before, ifriafi from which fam
ilies have drawn their water for |w
aratiooa arc dried op. Ahneet every
town weat of the Blue Kidfi ia con
fronted with the —a condition that
lie* living in remote actioaa an hav
ing to haul their drinking water far
mile*
Ashevilie actually ia hi better con
dition than are many aectioae of thia
aide of the moan tain. They have wa
ter enough to drink, though it ia ah at
off from the residential aaction for
certain hours in the day. Tapping of
Beaver Lake baa thrown half million
gallons daily into the city maina.
What would happen if fire broke out
1* problematical, but there ia health
ful water enough to live on.
Soda fountain*, bottling work*,
laundries and *imilar places have
been cut off from water until there ia
an incraaaa in the supply. Bottling
companies and laundriaa beyond the
mountaina, principally in Marion,
which ha* an abundant water supply,
are doing an enormous buainea*.
Since last Friday all the laundry for
Ashevilie ha* bean carried in trucks
across the mountains to Marion, 42
miles away.
Ashevilie will pull through for a
good many week* yet before there is
need for any grave fears for ita
safety, save from the fire hatard,
which has been greatly increaaed. Ita
splendid golf courses are turned a
dusty, uninteresting brown, and many
people from beyond the ridge have de
serted the mountains, but among the
resident* there ia only the discom
fort that cornea from being reatiictad
in the use of water.
Crops are in ruins. The (all veg
etables which usually bring in hand
mm return* and provide the moun
tain with food for the winter, are
hopelessly parched. The apple crop
is drying on the trees. Cora, save
•est ▼alleys, would burn
down-east broom-sedfre in
This mountain arm, accord
examined it
not make 25 per cent of
where them are
tie land, with thou
M owners are eon
choice of selling
fat an unfavorable market,
hay to f»od them with
at tha i
to
«ll not
hut it haa been tarrMr hard hit TV
J wiirtfT wiB he S inrrffl winttj
for them. Wot only hw»» they not
'h
WnntMy lliMblWMi
Rirht now the imtt to flro. A
r»f»liwlT JnyH cigar roohi 4a •
million dollar! jam—a, Tha Champ
ion FRm Co., of Canton, tha l>r|M(
makers af pardkntrd pa par in tka
world, Ian npwai dm af fifty million
•at af Cwtaa. fta (
Their plant at Cantan Haa baan par
tially idle for waaka becauae af tka
lack of watar. and hundred* af man
ara oat af wort.
Sporadic firaa have brokrn oat nil
over tka aioontaina. hot they have
fought dopdly. Only an Grandfath
er Mountain hare they
tha aaat bank af Lmrille Gorge, haa
Humed oear. It will he difficult to
father, but it will he well past the mil
lion mark. Other fire* would prab
aUy match thi» figure In tha
righting ■ mountain nre M w hope
tese • Mmm as fifktinf a Maw ta
Dional Swamp, dm the mj earth
ham*. The mountains are euwiid
with savaral inches of matted earth
roots and lea Tern. When firm get* in
it nothing hot a mktaf rate can de
finitely pot K Mt The Kwmtaiueen
hare fought deaperatety and heroi
rally when there haa been need and
a constant wateh is maintained
everywhere.
The auaimer tourist trade haa Buf
fered. hat not as extensively as It
might easily hare suffered, had there
been panic. Asheville haa taken the
situation rahnly, hoping against hope
that rain* would rame to relieve the
situation. Waynesville and Header
•onville and other centers of the tour
ist traffic have economised in water
■•nd let the visitors have it. The ho
tels have been the last places to be
cut off when necessity demanded it.
No Artificial Kate
All of the weather prophet* have
retired from the field in dieorder.
Ju*t now they are saying that it will
certainly be the 21st of September,
the calendar date for the fall equinox.
But all the signs have faded thus far,
and save for vary meagre showers,
there haa been no rain since May. Ef
forts to induce a rainfall by artificial
means were tried out on the Asheville
watershed, but they ware unavailing.
Everywhere one hears talk of using
la carload of high explosives in an
effort to induce rain. Nobody be
lieves it will work, but nobody would
hesitate to uae any mean* to get rate.
The drought has become a night
mare. There is no escaping it any
where. Drive along the roads and
they are choked with tourist* leav
ing the mountain*. The hills and
fielda are brown and desolate, save
for occasional patches of low ground
corn.
It it unu*ual, like the unusual win
ter that Bill Nye (truck when he
■me to North Carolina to eacape the
rigor* of northern winter*. The old
eat inhabitant* remember* nothing
to compare with it. And H i* the
most aeriou* drought that ha* erer
struck North Carolina. Any com
putation of the damage that ha* been
done i* impossible, but it will run in
to the million*.
Eaat of the mountain* down to the
rim of the Piedmont, the rain ha*
been scarce, bat not so generally
scarce as it has been wast of the
ridge. Reason for it nobody can say.
anymore than they cm say when it
will rain. Bat serious it is, and the
moat sartous for the mas who lire* off
the land and not ha who get* his wa
ter oat of a spigot and his food froas
the corner giucary.
The old city of Athens is to ha
torn down and archcologtsta will ex
cavate M feet beneath the surface
In search of eentortoa of dapoaita.
Forty American coliege* plan te as
, *iat in the expectation that the work
and mm cm arc again at pear*
Tkt LtMfk Railroad company, for
nut, already ha* officially announced
at Rudton, Pa., that 780 Mm will
ha tot oat on the Haztoton aad Ma
honey division. The fctmn hi
freight traffic activity may ha *ome
what compensated for financially to
the railroad*, ipihawn for tkt car
riers aaid, by tha hyraase expected
in paaaenger bu*ine«* becau*e of idto
miner*. Various exrorsioae awi
ingly an heme outlined for early an
nouncement which official* admit,
will be aimed at the sorptos • pending
money with which the miner* are aaid
te he "flash" after two year* of rteady
Laat Hire* Mentha.
A eanvass of railroad sentiment to
day, while neceaearily incomplete,
tended to show a general belief that
the earning suspension would more
likely last three month* than tha
three weak* now being predicted in
many parts of the mining regioa.
Miner* apparently are not waiting
for Monday night to leave the mines.
Hundred* began leaving today, tak
ing their tool* and affects.
til Wilkae-Barre gang* of several
thousand imported laborers were re
ported outward bound.
Scran ton reported that contract
miners, as a rule, were quitting to
night, after "Mowing down" enough
coal to keep their laborer* going until
Monday.
FLYING BOOTLEGGER
KILLED AT CHICAGO
Irvimg Schlieg ud Cmmpmmnm
Believed to Hart Been Shot
Br Riwala
Chicago, Aug. 28.—Irving Schlieg,
"the Flying Bootlegger," and Harry
Barman, west Side gangster were
found shot to death near Ashburn
Field, the air harbor of the Illinois
Aero Club, early today. Each bad
been shot through the back of the
head.
Schlier s (uitcaae, riddled with but
let# and atained with blood, was
found later partly aubmerged in a
| weat park lagoon, mile* away.
The police tonight were working
on the theory that the alayera took
their victim* "for a ride" in SchMe*'s
car, threw their bodies from the ma
chine and drove the car into the la
coon to hide the crime.
A xmall black suitcase, part of an
aviator'* outfK, waa found near the
bodies a* was a pistol with one cham
ber exploded. The police found the
suitcase had bean ransacked by some
on* with bloody hands. Schllef had
been reported to be making airplane
deliveries of liquor from Canada by
airplane and the polios theory was
that he and his companion had been
shot by rival liquor dealers or as the
1 result of a deal ef half million dollar
safe Mowing at the Parkway Hotel
hare several months ago in which
the police suspected he was implicat
ed. Schlieg's parent* mid they be
lieved the police had killed their son
and said policemen had threatened to
slay him.
Two thsaaand plains buffalo have
bee* liberated by the Canadian Gov
ernment in the Great Slave Lake
tiaatty to ream at will.
Assistant Attorney Gtixnu r ran It
Null, who wfT unmut Ik state in
the m«l hnrkf before the iro
pr«i« court, will Mtk to i-t«l« the
constitutionality of the law with the
contention that the giving of a check
ia a representation by the fiwr that
he haa an aaaewit of money on doyen
it sufficient to cover it. The traaa
action, according to the Mate's posi
tion, speaks far itself aa to the exist
ence of fraad. ^
Whether the torn I declares the act
valid or net, merchants of the state,
who thonght they had a real protec
tive lasaani i against the worthless
,L . ,L W — _ — , I— _ - II-s . — — — - J *L — t
rntci, niT« •irvwiy aiw.u'ci vu mmi
it is b»egfscti»s. Before iwueeftiua
can be brought the tfrrer of a check
most he located by the holder and
notified of its dishonor and the giver
can dodge that corner, evade the hold
er of the check and thereby escape
prosecution indefinitely.
CATCHING CARP IN DAN
RIVER
TW«MMb Bsbif Taken From
Lssrn Secret Of Trapping
Madison, Aug. IS.—If the reports
of fishermen are to be credited, and
there is a belief in some quarters that
at least a few fishermen are partly
truthful, thousands of pounds of carp
hare been taken from Dan river, ia
that part of the stream which flews
through Kockingham county, within
the past three or four weeks, and the
end is not yet. For the fish continue
to be captured in large numbers and
of large atee.
The manner of their capture, more
over, is almost aa interesting aa the
fish that are caught. Ia fact, it ap
pears that somebody has discovered
a secret that the carp didnt mean to
let get out and the fish are at the
mercy of those who seek their de
struction. Who it waa that discover
ed this secret is not known but cer
tain it ia that it haa led to the undo
ing of many carp.
wnst wok shrewd fisherman
learned U that when frightened a
carp doem't dart up or down stream
at lightning-like speed bat sticks his
noN in the mud instead, bettering,
like the oatrich, that when his head is
hidden all is hidden. Nor is this his
only pecularity. 80 long as the carp
keeps his nose in the mud he may ha
rubbed on the back, firmly grasped
and lifted from the water without be
coming alarmed, it is said.
Learning all this, mua/ has taken
advantage of the fish. A number of
ordinary seines are tied together, or
poultry wire Is made to serve in
stead and set about holes in the river
that are likely to harbor carp. Then
men and boys get inside the pan thus
made and feel around on the bottom
until the fiak are discovered and cap
tured. When one hole is fishsd clean
the fishermen move en to another.
A carp, it is declared, has mly one
ticklish spot, his tali If touched on
his rear extremity he takes his nose
out of the mod and trsvsh. After
the net has been set for,him however.
He does not travel far until he rena
into H and Is brought to a halt and
again does a nose dive in the mud.
Carp ranging In sise from one to
17 psamds have been taken In the
mendons flak fries have been held ea
the hanks of the Dan recently.
Railroad Crowing Crash in
RgJuBe Takes Fire Lire*
While knrrlM mMnn stood
helploea, the ear, ihlaen by Mrs. Eu
«ene Irrin m hurled hi«h u> tlx >lr.
Hear of the track, urf the badln of
the victiata of the crash »m toaead
like iU»i»i even htrher. to M npon
the hard rail, mm! roaM of a Ma.
track.
Not one parson waa left attea (tm
the happy party which M atartad
in the car fmai the hnaia of Mm.
Mantoa Ottrar a ahort while before.
Mri. Lillian ORnr waa ki aathlag
when pkyalciana arrived, Hot died ki
10 nfaintei, while being lai ried to a
HoapHal. AS the othera wan killed
either when the heavy engine eUuch
the automobile or when they fell upon
the sidetrack, a drop of about XI feat
or mXrr, It ia eatraaatod.
Motionl«*a, with no sound from
iMr Hpe, they war* rictiu in a
tnHr that nmnatcM another ana
about two years ago at the mum
croeaing, whan member* of the Pillar
family, two man and two children,
war* struck by the name train. No. 36
driven by the same engineer, K. L.
Pierre, b the Pillar wrack, one par
eon in the ear escaped, Mr*. Mitchell,
who spent a lon( time hi St. Leo's
hoaital, Greensboro, recovering frtm
her injuries. While officUly known
a* Carter'* croeaing, the death a pot
ia generally railed Pillar'* 11 uealllg.
Engineer Pierce waa driving hia
locomotive around a carve south
bound. The train waa a little lata.
Women on a porch on Market atreet,
'acingthe doable track of the south
ern. aaw the automobile a tart acroaa
the track. Witneaaea *aid that signal
light* were flaahing bat Mrs. Irvin
evidently did not know of the ap
proach of the train or thought to gat
acroaa before it caaae to the crossing.
What ahe did waa to drive acroaa the
northbound track and than get the
front wheels of the car partly acroaa
the southbound track.
The impact waa terrific. Like bita
"f paper, car and occupant) were
thrown op and aaide. falling lifeleaa
upon the staetrack. If they knew
their approaching fate they gave no
sign. No movement of thoee in the
automobile was obeerved just before
the crash, no sound made. Death waa
quick; w^pt had been a party foil of
life waa transformed in a few mo
ments into bruised and mangled flesh
tnd stilled hearts. None of the vic
tims were run over by the train.
ttomriM onlooker* could only
watch. One man tried to icnua
before the crash but the about died
in hi* throat. Several women were
nitting on the porch of a residence
facing the track and saw the auto
mobile toaaed high in the air. with
the bodies of ita occupant* carried
even higher. It seem* probable that
mm of thoae in the car were killed
when the engine plowed iato the ear
and were corpse* thrown for further
mangling.
All of the victim* were thrown
clear of the track, onto • sidetrack,
on the right of train No. St. The
automobile, abnoct a complete wreck,
wai alio thrown clear of the main
line. The train was stopped within
it* length, its refcr car standing, when
still, almost at the craning.
Death had been mercifully Instant
for four in the party. Mrs. Lillian
Oliver lived a few mioatea. breathing
faintly, bat she never npswsd bar eyes.
The bodies were badly mingled, Mrs.
trvia's head waa mashed, as was the
head and face of Mrs. Lillian Oliver.
Bones was broken ia all af the bodies
and the necks ef saase were said to
have been broken.
The bod tea were thrown apes the
rails of the sidetrack aad what Ufa
if any, that waa In the four who
ware picked ap daad was staffed oet
by the terrible impact.
THE DEAD:
Jack Milliard Carter, SI, of New
York and BeUrrflfc.
Mrs Eageae hrvin. 46, wife at Ea
gene Irvin, cashier of the CMaaaa
hank here.
Mrs. Mult* Oliver. 44, eistw ef
Jack Garter. aad wife ef the juMtghir
ot The MiIIiiMi Bartow.
tor • ak, «kkk they « apart ad to
R» itotod that he carried iiwat -
urn of $30,000 m the atrektate
and tftfiOO on the IrajUinp. Ik*
fire, it was learned Iter*, broke eat
■boot S:I6 o'clock last night, aad
spread as rapidly that almost the en
tire hosineaa district of the tnn «w
wiped oat. Inadequate firs fight lag
facilities and a ihaitad supply of wa
ter aude it iaapeeaible to attain aac
cess ia fi*htmc the flame* Backet
brigades ware otgauued and ia thia
way the blase waa finally bi might
under coatroI
Saaaet declared that he left Kiag
at 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon aad
was back at High Point at 7 o'clock
laat night He said he did not know
of the fire until the news was brought
to hiai by officers when they went to
his home to arrest him this aiming.