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FIOGKESS
A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE OF McDOWELL COUNTY.
ESTABLISHED 1896.
MARION,- N. C, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1912.
VOL. XVI NO. 23
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MR. LEDBETTER IN CUBA
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Br,et description of Places of rooms as tourists are allowed to Mr. G. M. Walton . Passes, Death
Interest He Has Visited in enter. Near the President's home Resulting from Paralysis
City of Havana. is the Columbus Cathedral which Other News.
tt . was built many years ago and
Havana, Cuba, Jan. 30, 1912. named in honQr of christ her Bridgewater, Feb. G.-Mrs. Rob
Juiitor of The Progress: Columbus. I visited the National ins "hose husband died last
By your kmd permission I will Bank of Cuba and was surprised week, has removed to her old home
give The Progress readers a few at the amoQn(. of business at Drexel.
lines in regard to some of the in- this institution. A representative Mr- nd Mrs. John Hopper, of
teresting things I have seen here. of the bank cheerful, explained Marion, visited at the homo of Mr.
I arrived here on January 25th the workings of this great bank. nd Ml Ben Martin, several days
and after being passed on by the He showed me the vault which. Iast
health officer and my baggage and according to their own statement) Mrs. Wilfong, of near Hickory,
duds thoroughly examined by a contains $6i260,632.54. The steel is visit5n relives here,
custom officer to be sure I was not door that closed the Arthur Trexler, of Glen Alpine,
a smuggler, I was allowed to pass f 0UrteeQ toQS j went out oq was here on business- Monday. .
out of the Custom House into this of this bank build; 6ve stQries C. B. Kincaids' family are all
odd city of over three hundred mm, j l0j . . . very sick with measl.
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thousand people. I did not think
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soon found out the idea I had got-
ten from hearing people talk about
, hke twenty feet frQm floor to floQr ucre, uiea xnursaay irom a strode
On leaving the Custom House I Many of the business houses have of Parasis- He Was buried at
went through the narrow streets sliding or folding doors so as to Harmonv Grove cemetery, Friday,
across the city and climbed to the open the entire end of the building. Rev A P' Sorrels conducting the
top of a hill where I could see over The Market House covers a whole funera services. Mr. Walton had
the city and get an idea of how it block and contains the vegetables een in faiIin health for some
laid. On top of this hill was the and tropical fruits that feed the time anc sun"ere fcm the stroke
penitentiary. After trying several city. It is a show within itself. more than ten days' before death
people to see if they could talk Havana is a Spanish city. Out came He had been, making his
English I found an officer who .Qf a population of more than 300,- home for a number of years with
could speak English in a broken 000 there is only 6,000 Americans, his two aged sisters, Misses Har-
way. I was shown to thejiead and very few other than Americans ret an? Clarisa Walton. He is sur-
officer and the superintendent asked can sneak English. Hence nearly Vlvec b three daughters and a son,
me if I wanted to go through the every thing is Spanish. The signs rs-Jho Miller, of San Francisco,
prison. I told him yes and he sent are in Spanish, the theatre plays Cal., two daughters of Baltimore
a guide who explained each de- are in SpanishV and the graphc- aad G; Valtn-oorfolk, Va.,
partment as we passed through, phone sings in Spanish. I do not wn0 visted his father several days
We were more than one hour go- know whether or not the dogs bark before his dealh- Mr- gallon
ing through and seeing the many in Spanish as I have seen but very was about sventy.five years of
things the 1300 prisoners were few of them. One of the things age' and a great collector of
making. Every thing seemed to that agreeably surprises me is the curious' especially minerals and
be kept very clean, and I was told kindness of all the people. I must Precioas stones.. Many will re
that each prisoner was required to say that an American is shown memDer ms exhibit at our late
shave every other day. I was muCn more kindness and courtesy McDowell County Fair,
shown what an exact description of here than we would show him in Abernethy-Lyerly Co. are build-
each prisoner was kept, including
the finger prints in connection with
the description. This entire city
is interesting on account of it and
its people being so different from
ours.
The .next place of special interest
visited was the city cemetery. It
is well kept and the many splendid !
monuments, is sufficient proof that
there is an abundance of wealth in
Havana. After spending consider
able time looking at the costly
monnments I was surprised to come
to a hectagon shaped house con
taining what is called the bone pile.
This pile'eontained five or six car
loads of human bones, left from
persons who have been buried so
long that no one will pay the rental
on the little plot of ground they
were buried on. So they were
taken up and the spot let to some
one who would" pay rental. This
was all very strange to me, but it
is a custom that has been followed
here for ages and the people here
think nothing strange of it
I next visited the raisibg of the
Battleship Maine. . They are pro
gressing nicely 'with this gigantic
undertaking and will soon have the
job complete. On February 15,
1898, the Maine was sunk by an
explosion and some two hundred
persons went down with it where
many have remained beneath the
f flagpole which has been above the
water until recently.
Morro Castle and Cabanas Castle
are immense in size and I consider
the few hours I put in inr going
through these old castles time well
spent I visited the Presidents
home and was admitted to the blue
room. rP.H rnnm onH ennk
uv uckv a WU View Ul Hie
city - The -houses on the principal
business, streets are only two or
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extremely high, being something
the United States. If I ask where
a certain hotel is the person I ask
will go to the trouble to find some
one who can understand English
and will see that I am put right.
During my stay here I have not
yet found one who was not willing
to go to considerable trouble to see
that I am accommodated, and they
do so mtb pleasure. They are in-
lhereare bar-rooms every where
you turn, but I have not seen any
drunkenness. There are more than
3,500 cab drivers and they are al-
ways in signt. 1 wenty cents js
the fixed charge for carrying you
anywhere in this big city. The
charge for two persons is the same
as for one. Sunday is but Utile
observed here, apparently nine
places out of ten doing business on
Sunday. ' .
I made a trip out thirty-five
miles trom the city through the
sugar cane section to sugar mill
which costfive million dollars.
Here the canels hauled to the mill
in train loads and the cars unload
ed by machinery. The mill runs
day and night, Sunday included.
I was shown through the entire
plant. This mill makes two thou
sand bags of sugar per day, i each
bag weighing 325 pounds. Every
where sugar was scattered over the
floor but no flies were to been seen.
I have not seen a half dozen mos
quitoes since. I have been here.
This island differs from Florida.
It is" somewhat mountainous and
fertile. ; Much of the soil is real
rjork red and is very productive.
Many of the-natives are living in
BRIDGEWATER NEWS
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Arthur RiddI. of Marion, was
rw """sewnier oanraay on ousi-
ness.
G.M.Walton, who lived near
ing aD lmmense cement reservoir
to urnlSQ water for their lumber
plant aDd Koller mill anq asa pro-
uiuuuu iu case oi nre.
Mrs. J. L. Gibson, of near Salis
bury, has removed hero to enter
her children iu our graded school.
"Bettye."
Looe nv.aA uu oi
The ta paim with perfectly smooth
ci pie timber in the section I passed
through
The Guines road, built bv Snain
in 1753, with its large spreading
trees at intervals of about fiftv feet
on each side, would put good old
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McDowell county to thinking on
the road question if her citizens
could see this hard, smooth road
Which shoots straight through the
section of country I traveled. The
trees afford abundance of shade as
well as add to the beauty of the
road.
I find the water, the soil, the
drainage and the breezes hero to
be superior to that of Florida.
I believe this island will be made
to produce a wonderful amount of
farm' products. All it lacks is a
class of people that know how to
do things and get at it.'- Three
crops can be easily raised here each
year. I saw fields of corn tasseled
out and most ready for gathering
and some of it only about knee
high.
The few days I have spent hero
have been the most interesting of
my tri p. With best wishes to Tne
Progress and its readers,'
very respectfully,
' . J. D. Ledbbtter.
PRIZES FOR THE BOYS
Trip to Washington For Young-
ster Making Best Corn Re
cord This Year.
Mr. I. O. Schaub, special agent
in extention. United Sutcs depart
ment of agriculture, has issued a
partial list of prizes to North Caro
lina boys in the corn competition
contest. The first nrize will be &
trip to Washington. The boys'
corn club contest is conducted by
the United States department of
agriculture, the North Carolina de
partment of agriculture and the
North Carolina Agricultural and
Mechanical College. The prizes
are:
State prize of a free trip to Wash
ington, D. C: To be awarded to
the boy making the largest yied at
the least cost per bushel.
District cash prizes, fTrcd by
the state department of agriculture.
Five prizes, in each district fnr
best yield at least cost rxr bushel.
First, $15; sfcond, $12 50; third,
$10; fourth, $5; fifth $2.50.
First district: Counties of Cam
den, Currituck, Pasquotank, Per
quimans, Chowan, Washington,
Tyrrell, Dare, Hyde, Beaufort,
Patnlfco.
Second district: Countirs of
Gates, Hertford, Bertie, Martin.
Northampton. Halifax. Edgecombe
Wilson and Warren.
Third district: - Counties of Pitt,
Green, Wayne, Lnoir, Craven,
Jones, drteret, Onslow, Duplin
and Pender.
Fourth district: Counties of
Vance, Granville, Durham, Frank
lin, Nash, .lohnUon, Wake, Cha
tham, Lee.
Fifth district: Counties of Per
son, Orange, Caswell, Alamance,
Rockingham, Guilford, Randolph,
Stokes, Davidson.
Sixth district: Counties of New
Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus,
Bladen, Sampson, Robeson, Cum
berland, Harnett. Hoke.
Seventh district: Counties of
Scotland, Moore, Richmond, Mont
gomery, Anson, Stanley, Union,
Cabarrus, Mecklenburg.
Eighth district: Counties of
Surry, Alleghany, Wilkes, Alex
ander, Ashe, Watauga, Caldwell,
Burke, McDowell, Mitchell, Yan
cey, Avery.
Ninth district: Counties of Yad
kin, Davie, Rowan, Iredell, Ca
tawba, Lincoln, Gaston, Cleveland,
Rutherford, Polk.
Tenth district: Counties of
Madison, Buncombe, Henderson,
Transylvania, Haywood, Jackson,
Macon, Swain, Graham, Clay,
Cherokee.
THE RULES.
1. All members must be under
18 years of age August 1, 1912.
'2. Each bor must nlant one acre
bf corn (4,840 square yards), doing
all the work himself, except that
small boys may hire their land
broken.
3. No member must use more
than $10 worth of commercial fer
tilizer. 4. Each member must keep a
record of his work, amount of ma
nure and fertilizer usd and mk
out a report on the special blank
which will be funished him.
5. Each member must read the
instructions sent him by the de
partment of agriculture.
For further information or en
rollment address L O. SchauK
special agent in extension.
Wcat
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Kalcigh, N. C.
THE POULTRY INDUSTRY
Increase in Poultry Raising- Big
Demand for Poultry Products
With Prices High.
In an effort to encourage and in
crease poultry raising in the Sooth,
the N)uthcrn Railway Company,
through its Land and Industrial
Department, has issued a folder
for wide distribution calling atcea.
tion to the superior advantaircj
offered in the States traversed by
its lines for the profitable develop
ment of this industry.
The big horns demand for poul
try products with prices higher
than on other markets, and the
ideal conditions prevailing in tha
Sotvlh for raising chickens at low
cost arc two of the good arguments
set forth in the folder. It is a fact
that every Southern city of any
1zo imports annually thousands of
dollars worth of egg and chickens.
Eggs will average throughout the
year at least fire cents more per
aozen than in the North. The
Southern poultryman has a market
near his plant and docs not have to
consider long hauls and uncertain
markets.
For the small poultry raiser who
is satisfied to make a living only at
first, gradually building up hU
business with his profits, the initial
cost of a poultry plant in the South
east should not run over $00. ac
cording to an estimate civen in
the folder. Many prosperous Sou
thern poultryman bo can on a low
as $100 first capital. Several acres
of a land, a small laying house and
runs is about all necessary for poul
try raising on a -small scale, and
such a plant will make a healthful,
pleasant living for the family and
under intelligent management will
in a few years .result in a large in
dustry. The Southern Railway Company
is very much interested in the de
velopment of the xoultry industry,
as it is in other industries and ac
tivities of the people served by it,
and Land and Industrial Agent M.
V. Richards at Washington, and
Western Agent Charles S. Chase,
Chemical Bldg., Sl Louis, are pre
pared to give all possible assistance
without charjrc to prospective poul
trymen desiring to locate in the
Southeast,
Tabernacle Bible Conference.
The Fourteenth Annual Taber
nacle Bible Conference will conveno
at the Baptist Tabernacle, Atlanta,
Ga., March 1st, and continue to
March 10th. The Conference pro
mises to be the largest In atten
dance in its histiry. Christian
workers and Bible students from
all parts of the country will be in
attendance. This Conference is
interdenominational in character,
over two thousand preachers alone
attending last year. A greater at
tendance is expected this year in
view of the fact that the Confer
en co will bo held in the New
Church recently dedicated, costing
over $200,000 the seating capscity
of which is five thousand.
Senator Simm ins has reintroduc
ed his amendment to the immigra
tion bill providing for educational
tests of Immigrants entering this
country. The amendment pissed
tho senate some ears ago, but nz
co ecd to by tha house and
therefore failed to pass Congress,