r -
A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE OF McDOWELL COUNTY.
ESTABLISHED 1896.
mari6n, n. cm Thursday; march 20, 1919
VOL. XXIII NO. 29
ROA D LAW FOR M 'DOWrL
Synapsis of Law Providing for Construction-of
Highways Through
Provision is made by the county
road law, enacted by the Legisla
ture just adjourned, for the (con
struction and maintenance of main
highways through the several town
' ships in the county to the county
seat, or to connect with a highway
leading to the county seat, at the
expenseof the entire county, so
that taxes, collected from the rail
roads and all - other corporations
. -and property can be used through-
out toe county on me main nign-
ways. -
A road commission for the coun
ty is provided for in the" act, with
H. F. Little, W. P. Artz and R.
J?. Morris members, and they met
and organized on Monday the
17th, by electing H. iV Little chair
man and R. P. Morris secretary
and employing; W. T. Morgan at
torney:" x ' - -
The township road commission-'
oru nnrl t.Hft orftnftral road law for
. the various townships remains un
changed, except that when high-
' ways are constructed by the coun
ty road commission they shall be
maintained uy i iuai is uy tax
ation, and the "free labor" will be
released from such road when taken
bv the township road commission
ers upon the other roads in the
township. .
- :The highways are required to be
constructed to specifications and to
be maintained at all times accord
ing to such specifications, and are
to be let but to the lowest . bidder
in certain sections and for certain
periods of time, and the bidder
who is awarded the contract is re
quired to -give bond for the main
tenance of the road (except bridges)
to such specifications, and where
satisfactory bicls are not to be had
for the maintenance iof the, high
way the commission is authorized
may deem best for the' upkeep of
the highway.
And in order to place each town
ship upon as nearly an- equal foot
ing as possible, the townships
which have not heretofore issued
bonds for road purposes are au
thorized to issue road bonds in a
sum, based upon the . valuation of
property for taxes, equal to the
average amou nt, as per tax valua
' tions, for which ; the other - to wn
ships which have heretofore issued
"road -bonds;- provision being made
for the expenditure lof all funds
derived from the sale of such bonds
in the township which issues theml
By this arrangement each $100 val
uation of property for taxes in each
township ' throughout the . county
would bear the same average
amount pf taxes, and the main
highways throughout 3 the county
will be built and maintained by jthe
same amount of taxes on each $100
valuation of property throughout
the entire county, w hereas, here
tofore the weaker townships, finan
cially, and especially the ones bav-
corporation proper ty in them, were
left without any available means of
building good roads, or of getting
the "square deal" which this act
provided for . for - every township
in the county alike. y
The highway commission is
given power to fill all vacancies oc
curring upon the commission, with
the provision made that the person
appointed by them shall be of the
same 'politics of the member whose
vacancy is to be filled. -"
At each general election : in the
county one member of the commis
sion is to be elected by the voters
pf the county. ' i
The highway commission is au
thorized to co-operate with State
and National agencies in road work
ia order to get all possible assist
ance from "the Federal government
and the State, and from these sour
ces the prospect is that large sums
of money can bo had in the future
by the county's co-operating with
its one-fourth of cost, the govern
ment and the state paying the other
three-fourths upon such highways
as they undertake. Without a
county road Jaw and a county sys
tem for the building and maintain
ing of highways this aid could not
be had, as under the township unit
system alone some townships would
help while others could not.
Crop Statistics to Be Collected.
If the plans which at present are
being worked out by . the x agricul
tural extension service are success
ful sonfe very definite information
in.xegard to North Carolina crop
acreages will be secured at tax-
1 rsting li me this y ea r.
It lias been felt -for a number, of
years that theState was not secur
ing enough definite, basic informa
tion about its crop acreages. An
attempt was made last year to se
cure this information and many
counties voluntarily instructed their
tax-listers to obtain definite crop
information from each farmer as
he turned in his taxes. The results
of this were successful, to some ex
tent, buMt is desired this year to
make the information more com
plete. : The extension service is now hav
ing a supply of blanks printed for
the purpose of collecting this data,
and it will attempt to have the
commissioners of each county take
up the matter, paying the tax-listers
for their extra labor.
The reasons assigned for secur
ing this information is that this
data will help to stabilize agricul
tural affairs, and .will put the farm
ers of the State in a position to
know just how many acres are de
voted to different crops. With
these accurate crop conditions it
can be forseen just about what the
production will be, and, as the gov
ernment collects other needed in
formation through its field agents
this, when applied to the acreage
information collected, will give
complete data for any county. , It
will also encourage farm" records
td be kept.
Mr. Frank Parker, field agent of 1
the bureau ofl crop estimates, is
aiding the extension service in this
work, and will have charge of tab
ulating the informationwhen it is
received, later in the year.
' Director Kilgore has sent a let
ter to Vail county commissioners
urging their active co-operation in
the matter. ' "
Colorado Republicans have or
ganized, the Leonard Wood Re
publican club of Colorado, the ob
ject being to promote the candi
dacy of Wood for the Presidency.
NEWS FROM THE COUNTY
Brief Mention of Some of the Hap
penings in McDowell' County-
Items About Home People.
- woodlawn ' .
Woodlawn, March 17. 31. - L. Good
killed a four hundred pound hog last
week. . - - ,
The sudden death of Mrs. Charlie
Hollifield of Armstrong was a shock to
the neighborhood. She had entirely re
covered from an attack of influenza and
was up doing her housework when she
fell dead as she tossed out a pan of
water. She leaves three small children
and a husband. J
- It is with much regret we chronicle
the death of Mrs. Bagio Caruso. She
was the daughter of J. D. Leakey a
well known citizen of this community.
Her husband came here as a stranger
among us but has many friends. Five
small children Burvive.
Willie Greenlee, formerly of Wood
lawn, but now of Studley, Ta:, is here
on a yisit to friends and relatives. .
A small party of friends from Wood
lawn spent, a few hours very pleasantly
Thursday afternoon with Mr. Charlie
McCall and sister. The wealher was
spring-like enough to play eroquet.
Vindsey Gouge and family haye re
turned from Mitchell county after spend
ing a few days with the former's moth
er, who has been seriously ill .with influenza.
GREENLEE
Greenlee, Mar. 17. Farmers are pre
paring to plant a big corn crop
B. H. McCall is on the sick. list.
W. 1. Crisp made a business trip to
A8heville last Monday.
Mis&Grac&-JSx win -and -si&tar -spant
Saturday and Sunday with their grand
father, Mr. Pendergrass.
K. W. Tate made a business trip to
Marion last Saturday. .
L G. McCall spent the week-end in
Marion.
Mrs. A. B. Wright and two little sons
left Monday for their home in Macon
county. -
Miss Annie Wells visited her little
brother at the hospital in Marion dur
ing the week.
Master Glen and Herman Snipes spent
Satarday and Sunday with relatives at
Stroudtown.
Miss Pearl Snipes spent Saturday and
Sunday with friends at Harmony Grove.
Charles Marsh spent last Saturday in
Marion on business.
STROUDTOWN
.Stroudtown, March 17. Judging by
the busy farmers of this section spring
is snrely coming.
The school here is still improving since
the "Flu" epidemic has subsided. The
enrollment is now fifty. : .
Earl Poteet has " recently accepted a
position with the Southern Power Com
pany at Bridgewater.
Miss Maggie Byrd spent the week-end
with relatives'at Marion.
Mr. and Mrs. Lisenbee1 spent a part of
last week in Spartanburg.
Mrs. 'Millard Horton is still on the
sick list. Her many friends wish for
her a speedy recovery.
, Mi 8. J. W." Hensley and daughter,
Kathryn. were visitors at Stroudtown
last Friday.
Grover Green has ja3t opened a new
dry .goods store in this "city" which will
be'-a great convenience to the people . of
this, vicinity. , .
Miss Ethel Wilson spent the week-end
with home folks at Ashford.
J. G. Pyatt of Dysartsville made a
trip to Stroudtown last Saturday.
There will be a box supper at Stroud
town school house Saturday night,
March 22nd. Everybody is invited to
attend.
Damage resulting from a fire in
Atlanta, Ga., Sunday night, which
destroyed the Southern railway
freight transfer at Inman yards, is
estimated at $1,000,000. About 80
carloads of foodstuffs and other
freight was destroyed.
Services at St. John's next Sun
day at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p. m.
Teachers Take Much Interest in
; Reading Circle Other News.
The teachers of the county are
takiDg great interest in the Read
ing Circle work. There are four
grou pes Marion, Old Fort, Nebo
and Glen wood. The Marion group
met hero last Saturday, discussing
Arithmetic in the Elementary and
Grammar grades. The meeting
was a very enthusiastic and inter
esting one. The, attendance was
good, notwithstanding the inclem
ent weather.
The schools are beginning to
close. The Ashford school being
among the first to finish the year's
work, held its closing exercises last
week. The school had a very suc
cessful year with Miss Belle Id
better as principal and Miss Nello
Gibbs as assistant.
The teachers have had a very
busy year. They have responded
to. all calls connected with war
work. With their assistance and
through their influence in the va
rious districts the numerous calls
have been made more successful
than Had they not been alert to the
needs of the times. For the past
few days they have been engaged
in aiding to raise the county's
quota of the Armenian-Syrian re
lief fund. Surprising sums have
been raised at a number of schools.
With the additional two months
provided by the State and county
by- reason o f the i xmoo t h4 w the
special tax districts will have very
satisfactory terms after, this year.
Quite a" number will have a term of
eight months and some will prob
ably be able to run nine months.
By reason of the increased sala
ries and lengthened terms for next
year it is expected that tne school
of the county will be about doubled.
Armenian Relief Drive Extended.
The Armenian-Syrian Kelief
drive scheduled to end March 8th
has been extended umil April 1st
This comes about from the fact
that North Carolina, on theclosiug
date, had raised only about one
half of her quota. This is one of
the most worthy causes for which
a call has. been made connected
with the war. These Armenian aro
among the oldest Christians in the
world, and .have suffered untold
persecution at the hands of the
bloody Turks. These are calling
for aid.
McDowell county's quota was
$1400, only half of which has been
raised. County Chairman W.. I.
Hutchios is very much concerned
about this matter. , He wishes to
urge upon the people of thecounty
the great importance of raising our
allotment. In a few instances the
public schools have taken the mat
ter in band in certain communities
and babe turned in a neat sum.
If the county is to be put over the
top it will be necessary for every
agency interested in work of this
kind to get behind the move and
put it oyer"without delay.
It has been announced that plans
have been made for the erection of
an administration building at Yan
cey Collegiate institute at Burcs
ville. The institute has recently
suffered several costly fires and af
ter an investigation a Morganton
boy who was a student there, was
arrested. He admitted that he
had fired the building, because he
was mad at a member of tbo
faculty.
PROPERTY REVALUATION
Chairman Lee Issues Appeal toTax
payers Want Good Business
Men for County Assessors.
Calling upon tSe people of tha
Stato to assist the Commission in
the selection of a splendid business
man in each county as County Tax:
Assessor, the State Tax Commis
sion is losing no time in getting be
hind the new piece of legislation
for revaluation of all property ia
North Carolina at its actual worth.
Chairman W. T.Lre has issued an
appeal to the taxpayers of theStste
outlining the general princples of
the law and assuring the taxpayers
that the new system will cot mean
a greatly increased tax.
CIIIRMAN' lee's ArrEAL.
The statement follows.
"Toe General Assembly, just
adjourned, has imposed a responsi
bility upon the Corporation Com
mission as a State Tax Commission
which it feels unable to properly
meet without the support of tbo
taxpayers of the State. As chair
man of the commission, I desire to
take the people into the conOJenca
of the commission and acquaint
them with the purpose of the Gen
eral Assembly and request of them
their full co-operation in tiding us
in the proper discharge of bur
duties.
For many years it has been the
taw that "every" person's properly"
should be assessed for taxation at
its full value in money. Notwith
standing this law. nearly every
body in the State has escaped a full
valuation of his property for taxes.
The General Assembly, just ad
journed, has said by passing the
Revaluation Act, that an end must
be made of this condition and that
hereafter property must be valued
for taxes at its true value. It
places the responsibility upon our
tc01111130 to see that this is dona
and it must and shall be done. It
is the purpose of the General As
sembly upon a proper valuation be
ing made, to lower the tax rate,
and it will meet after the property
has been assessed, for that pur
pose, so that the burden upon the
taxpayers will not necessarily be
increased. This is assured to us
as a commission and we in turn de
sire to assure the taxpayers of the
Stato that a full valuation of tbelr
property will nut mean greatly in
creased amount of taxes. This tzl
under which this assessment is made
provides that the State, no county
or municipality shall collect in ex
cess of tea per cent more taxes af
ter this revaluation is made than is
being collected in 1919 ender the
present valuation.
M call upon the people of the
State to assist the commission in
the selection of a splendid business
man in each county ss county tax
assessor. He should be a man of
Cne judgment, good business abili
ty, having a good knowledge of
values both in town and country
and one in whom the public has
confidence as to his honesty and in
tegrity. It is not a political clZc3
but one of strictly business and rc
trust our political friends will un
derstand this and only suggest tbo
most competent men. After the
County Supervisor is sdectci by
us, we trust every tax pare r in czth
and every county of tbo tate will
fully co-operate with him to the
end that ho will bo able to ssscs
each person's property at its trm
value in money'