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VOLUME XXXI. ffi OXFORD, MQRTH CAROLINA; WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1916 NUMBER 13
A BRILLIANT RECEPTION
IN HONOR OF PROMINENT AT
TORNEY AND BRBDE
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gilliam Lassiter
Entertain in Honor of Mr. and
Mrs. Benjamin Kittrell Lassiter.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gilliam Las
siter gave a reception Friday even
ing in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Benja
min Kittrell Lassiter, which was re
plete with genuine Southern hospi
tality. Although the beautiful home
palms and fern with graceful smilax
were used, while sweetest strains of
selections by the orchestra floated
through the scenes of beauty.
In the hall, where bowl& of yellow
Jonquils, white tulip . and large bas
ket of white flowers served as adorn
ment, Misses Elizabeth Niles and
Mary Currin Owen received the
guests.
In the library, amid artistically ar
ranged branches of pink carnations,
pink Japanese quince and mantel
banked in ferns, was the receiving
party Mr. and Mrs. R. G. Lassiter
and Mr. and Mrs. B. K. Lassiter, Mr.
Hampden Hill and Miss Louise Cur
rin, of Richmond, who is a debutante
of Richmond this winter, and at this
time was also introduced to Oxford
society.
In the drawing room, amid bas
kets of pink carnations, handles tied
with pink and green tulle and sprays
of Japanese quince, punch was ser
ved by Miss Josephine Brown, Mr.
Leonard Mitchell, Miss Mary B. Wil
liams and Mr. Paul Venable.
At the drawing room door were
Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Lewis, Jr., who
ushered the guests into the dining
room where the color scheme, yellow
and white, was carried on minutely
in refershments of ice cream, cake,
bon-bons, mints and candies. A
pleasing feature was a large basket
of spun yellow candy filled with
white candy rosebuds pased to each
guest. Presiding in the dining room
were Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Powell and
Miss Susan Graham, assisted in serv
ing by Misses Sallie "Webb, Estelle
White, Ruth Shaw, Erma Grant.
At the hall door leading from the
dining room were Mr. and Mrs. Mar
sh Ray. The decorations of, the. dining
'room were extremely beautiful " with
mantel banked with ferns and white
primroses and a profusion of sun
burst roses on the antique sideboard.
T1 centerpiece of the table was a
large basket of sunburst roses and.
white snap-dragons, the handle of the
basket tied, with blue tulle.
Miss Fannie Gregory and Mr.
J. B. Meadows showed the guests to
the den where coffee was poured by
Col. and Mrs. H. G. Cooper and Gen.
and Mrs. B. S. Royster amid the bril
liant adornment of red carnations
and stately ferns.
Invited Guests
Among the invited guests were:
Mrs. G. A. Coggeshall, Miss Jeanette
Biggs, Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Ballou,
Dr. and Mrs. T. L. Booth. Mr. and
Mrs. John Booth, Mr. and Mrs. W. H.
Britt, Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Brown, Miss
Josephine Brown, Mrs. S. H. Brown,
Mr. and Mrs. D.G.Brummittr Mr. and
Mrs. T. N. Burwell, Mr. and Mrs. W.
D. Bryan, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bry
an, Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Brinkley, Miss
Martha Parker Brinkley, Mr. and
Mrs. J. M. Baird, Mr. and Mrs. Dud
ley Bonitz, Mrs. Bonitz, Dr. Luther
Buchanan, Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Brad
sher, Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Brooks, Mr.
B. M. Caldwell, Mr. Halstead Cald
well, Dr. and Mrs. S. H. Cannady,
Mr. and Mrs. Hillman Cannady, Miss
Lawrence, Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Can
nady, Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Capehart
Miss Margaret Capehart, Mr. and Mrs?
W. H. Hunt, Mrs. Arthur Landis,
Mr. and Mrs. I. C. Hunt, Mr. and
Mrs. Scott Hunt, Mr. and Mrs. A. A.
Chapman, Miss Annie,Crews, Mr. and
Mrs. R. C. M. Calvert, Miss Davis,
Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Cooper, Mrs.
Thomas Evans, Mr. and Mrs. E. H.
Crenshaw, Mr. and Mrs. T. G. Currin,
Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Currin, Mr. and
Mrs. H. J. Council. Mr. and Mrs. D.
A. Coble, Dr. and Mrs. N. C. Daniel,
Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Davis, Mrs. Louis
de la Croix, Miss Kate de la Croix,
Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Easton, Mr.
Charles Easton, Mrs. C. G. Elliott,
Miss Belle Cooper, Dr. N. N. Ferebee,
Mr.'N. N. Ferebee, Jr., Mr. and Mrs.
H. O. Furman, Miss Susan Graham,
Mr. A. W. Graham, Jr., Col. and Mrs.
R. O. Gregory, Miss Gregory, Miss
Nannie Gregory, Mrs. M. L. Har
grove, Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Hall, Mr.
and Mrs. A. S. Hall, Mr. and Mrs.
John R. Hall, Miss Sue Hall, Dr. and
Mrs. B. K. Hays, Rev. F. H. T. Hors
fleld, Miss Mona Horsfield, Mr. and
Mrs. A. L. Glasgow, Mr. and Mrs. R.
L. Hamilton, Miss Lizzie Gooch, Mr.
and Mrs. A. A. Hicks, Misses Hilliard,
Miss Carrie Hobgood, Prof, and Mrs.
F. P. Hobgood, Miss Jessie Hobgood,
Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Horner, Mrs. B.
W. Hobgood, Mr. and Mrs. W. I.
Howell, Miss Evelyn Howell, Mr. and
Mrs. T. C. Howell, Mr. and Mrs: An
drew Jamison, Mr .and-, Mrs. ..Will
Landis, Mr .and Mrs. T. Lanier, Mrs.
Bettie Lanier, Mrs. Martha Chewn
ing, Mr. Hampden Hill, Mr. H. F.
(Continued on page eight.); .......
SUPERIOR COURT
NO W IN SESSION
HON.W. A. DEVIN, OF GRANVILLE
JUDGE PRESIDING
February Term Granville Superior
Court Convened Monday Morning
Rather Full' Docket Solicitor
Gattis Prosecuting.
A two weeks' term of the Superior
Court opened Monday morning with
Judge W. A. Devin presiding, with
his usual dignity. Solicitor S. M.
Gattis, of Hillsboro, was also on hand
to assist in the prosecution of State
cases.
Judge Devin's charge to the grand
jury was able and forceful. Mr. John
Williams as foreman and Mr. Joe
Newton was sworn in as officer
of that body.
Both the criminal and civil dockets
seem to be heavy and with Judge
Devin presiding much business will
be prompjtly disposed of. ,
The following were drawn as
pGrand Jury: John Williams, fore
man; L. W. Oakley, Lee Bull, W. A.
Bobbitt, M. C. Davis, L. L. Gresham,
W. A. Ellington, N. Y. Carrington,
John Webb, A. L. Clayton G. T.
Pittard, A. S. Frazier, Joe A. Wilker
son, S. L. Brummitt, Z. W.Wheelous,
W. S. Cozart, John Beal, Alex Duke.
In the absence of Mr. Cam Hunt,
Cler k of the Court, who is confined
to his home on account of sickness,
Mr. John W. Hester is assisting Mr.
J. A. Shotwell with the court work.
THE ACME HARDWARE COMPANY
Rumor Has it That Mr. Hal Holeman
Will Wed; That Mr. Joe Baird
WiU Retire and That Mr. Chamblee
Will Become an Evangelistic
Singer.
There appeared in the last issue
of the Public Ledger a dissolution
notice of the Acme Hardware Com
pany. Opinion was rife as to what
had struck the old reliable hardware
firm. Some went so far as to ven
ture that Hal Holeman was soon to
wed and had asked indefinite leave
of absence; others thought that. Mr.
Joe Baird had accumulated enough
to retire; to private lif e, and .to -eap
the climax it was rumored that Mr.
Mike Chamblee would become an e
vangelistic singer.
In conversation with Mr. Holman
we learn that he would be willing to
dissolve his relations with all the
world if he could get the girl that he
loves; that Mr. Baird would' like
to retire long enough to give his Ford
machine a thorough test in the Rocky
Mountains; that instead of Mr. Cham
lee taking to the road as an evangil
istic singer there is plenty of mis
sionary work in his old home town.
Thus it is, people are prone to mag
nify a potato hill into a mountain.
There are too' many people in our
community that call a pistol a gun.
As regards the dissolution of the
Acme Hardware Company, it is a
simple procedure, well calculated to
do away with much red tape. The
dissolution does away with filling out
blanks for the Corporation Commis
sion every now and then.
We are glad to know that the
best of feelings prevail and that the
members of the company greet each
other with a fond embrace.
STOLE A MARCH
Miss Mahlor Wheeler the Bride of
Mr. Pete Wood.
A genuine surprise was sprung on
the community Sunday when some
one revealed the fact that Miss Mah
lor Wheeler and Mr. Pete Wood were
married on the night of December
10th. They had managed to keep the
marriage secret up to Sunday last,
but some one cognizant of the fact
let the secret get hy them and the
news flew like wild fire.
The marriage took place in the
telephone exchange at 10 o'clock on
the night of December 10th last, in
the presence of Dr. Tom Booth and
Mr. Baldy Williams, the ceremony
being performed by Justice D. Hunt.
The fact that the happy couple pre
ferred to keep the marriage a secret
is attributed to the wiley ways of
Cupid.
SUNDAY SCHOOL INSTITUTE
In Oxford Thursday, Friday and Sat
urday of This Week
A Sunday School Institute of much
importance will be held in Oxford
Thursday Friday and Saturday of
this week. Mr. E. L. Middleton, of
Raleigh, Sunday School Secretary of
the State Baptists, and Rev. J. T.
Walls, of Richmond, will be present.
The Institute will be held in the
Baptist church Thursday, Friday and
Saturday night at 7:30, and at Ox
ford College Friday and Saturday
mornings beginning at 8:45 o'clock.
In this great work for the Master
all denominational lines have been
set aside and a -cordial invitation is
extended to all interested people ir
respective of denomination to attend
the meetings at the' church and the
college, i ..-.
SEVERAL IRONS IN THE FIRE
MR. P. W. KNOTT A VERY BUSY
MAN
President of the Granville County
Improvement Association and Sec
s retary of the County Fair.
The new organization formed a
few weeks ago, at which time Mr. P.
W. Knott was chosen president, has
been named "The Granville County
Improvement Association!' President
Knott was in Oxford Saturday and
advised the Public Ledger that there
would be a. meeting of the organiza
tion at an parly date.' ,v
After a brief campaign rf4n and out
among-thefarmers and business men
President Knott is of the 'decided o
pinion that the Granville County Im
provement Association has come to
stay. In the many strong talking
points in its favor, which:; appeal to
the farmers, he named thef following:
"Ways of marketing fafm product
more economically; the kihds of pro
duce demanded by consumers; stand
ardizing, branding, and Advertising
products; purchasing methods; joint
orders car load lots, warehouses,
stores, ordering directly fjom manu
facturers, maintaining, expert pur
chasing agents; possibilities of local
handicrafts; to make thiiigs needed
on farms; kinds of enterprises which
need financing; means of providing
capital; farm loans, long! and short
time; study of cheap and efficient me
thods of road making and construct
ion, especially in schools marketing
through parcel post and express com
panies; to promote schools, study
clubs, lectures, steropjican and
moving outfits, libraries magazine
clubs.'' f
President Knott is verSg enthusias
tic for the success of the Granville
County Improvement 'Association.
The Whole thing is lodged in his
heart and he glories in speaking jof
its beauties and the good;: work that
can be accomplished by hearty co
operation along all lines And right
at this point, Mr. Knott stated a truth
when he said, that no oneman can do
it all. Every' line of wojk he enum
erated is of vast importance and if
tJiCgoQd ppplejQif the cotsncceed
in establishing a fiatfdolnffth'eier
the Granville County Improvement
Association will not have been
launched in vain.
The County Fair
It will laso be remembered that
the Granville County Fair Association
at a recent meeting elected Mr. P.
W. Knott secretary to fill the position
formerly held by Mr. Eugene Crews,
resigned.
We were indeed pleased to learn
from Secretary Knott that the Fair
this year will surpass all previous
efforts. Some of the farmers of the
county who had never taken interest
in the Fair have promised Secretary
Knott their hearty support this year
and we are advised that all the old
friends of the Fair will return next
fall with larger and better exhibits.
In order that there may not be any
conflict in dates, Secretary Knott is
now writing to the secretaries of
fairs in the adjoining counties with
a view of holding e meeting at an
early date and see if they cannot
strengthen each other's hands.
In speaking of Mr. Knott in con
nection with the Granville County
Improvement Association we refer to
him as "President." and when we
speak of him in conection with the
County Fair it is "Secretary," if you
please. He is also President of the
Granville County Farmer's Union.
We take it for granted that every
man in the county knows the rather
handsome gentleman from Enon. Be
sides being president of two organi
zatiaons and secretary of one he is
also Superintendent of a Sunday
School and is also one of the very
best farmers in the county. He is a
broad gauged man and his coming
and going among the good citizens of
the county means much. Every man
should rally to his support.
LOST HIS COLLAR
A Case of the Blind Leading ths
lilmd.
We saw an old colored man from
up in Oak 'Hill township on our
streets the other dayx bewailing the
fact that in transit the collar which
he had placed about his mules neck
before leaving home had been lost or
stolen on the trip to Oxford. It was
an odd looking sight, the blind lead
ing the blind, the old man's sight
dimmed by age and the mule's for
the cheapness thereof. The old man
is of the opinion that the collar was
removed by some one in a back lot
or while he was discussing potash
with some one on the public highway.
At any rate, the collar was missing
and the poor old mule's shoulders
bore the blunt. The old man was
not able to pay for this write up, so
we suggest that if any one finds the
collar they will leave it at Lyon-Win1
ston Company's store as they have
kindly consented to try and communi
cate with the old darky. ;
I
ST ATE-WIDE
PRIMARIES
ONLY THREE MONTHS IN WHICH
TO SELECT CANDDDATES
There is a More Important Thing
Than Voting at the Primaries, and
That is to See That Competent,
Reliable Honest Candidates Are on
the Ticket.
All good citizens should bear in
mind that the State-wide primaries
will be on the third day of June,
ninety days earlier than heretofore.
There are -too many good men
moved to say that the time of hold
ing the primaries is of no concern to
them, as they are not seeking office
and are not interested in politics. We
beg to differ with them. Politics
should concern every citizen, for it is
through politics that offices are filled.
There is politics and politics good
politics and bad politics. One of the
definitions of politics is: "The con
duct and contests of parties with ref
erence to political measures or the
administration of public affairs; the
advancement of candidates to office."
Every taxpayer and voter should be
interested in the conduct of public af
fairs and the advancement of good
men to office. Complaint is often
made that it is. useless to take an in
terest in politics for the reason that
tricksters and bad politicians manipu
late things and run primaries and
elections to suit themselves. Certain
ly bad politicians have done, and will
continue to do, these very things as
long as the good people hold aloof
and take no interest in matters which
are of vital importance to themselves
and their town, county and state.
The people complained of the trick
ery and wire pulling of nominating
conventions until primaries were es
tablished. Now let the people vote at
the primaries. There is a more im
portant thing than voting at the pri
maries, however, and that is to see
that competent, reliable, honest can
didates are on the tickets. The good
candidates will be forthcoming if the
people will but make the proper effort
to secure them. And after good can
didates have been secured let the
people not only vote for them, but
iSceoths Je f or jthem.
GOOD BILL EEVRY NIGHT
Fine Features Supplant the
Broken
Coin Serial.
Owing to tfie fact that the days are
getting longer the performance at the
Orpheum Theatre now begins at 7:30
instead of 7:15.
The people of Oxford should feel
proud of the fact that our local play
house is on a circuit with Richmond
and Norfolk, which means that the
big film companies release pictures
to Oxford at the same time they do
to the Virginia- cities. In other
words, pictures are seen., one day
earlier in Oxford than they are shown
in the cities south of us.
There is a strong bill at the Or
pheum every night this week. Pat
rons will observe that a greaot deal
of interesting history is injected into
the pictures, especially the Pathe
News series. The management has
decided to cut out the "Broken Coin"
feature. In contracting for this fea
ture Harris & Crews were under the
impresion that there were only fif
teen episodes, but the play has been
lengthened to twenty-two chapters,
which they state is too long, especial
ly at a time when so many valuable
pictures can be had.
NOTED YOUNG SINGER COMING
Contralto Voice of Much Beauty
Recital in Graded School
Miss Katherine Johnson of Mere
dith College, Raleigh, will give a re
cital Monday evening, February 21st
in the auditorium of the Graded
School under the auspices of the
Music Department of the Civic Club.
Miss Johnson has a contralto voice of
unusual beauty and has made an en
viable reputation for so young a sing
er. The public is cordially invited
to attend. MARY E. WEBB,
Chm. Music Dept. Civic Club.
DR. WTLLINGHAM'S PORTRAIT
Oxford Lady Will Paint Official Por
trait of Noted Divine
Mrs. T. N. Burwell has returned
from Richmond where she has been
visiting for three weeks. While there
Mrs. Burwell received orders for sev
eral portraits, among them the offi
cial portrait of the late Dr. Willing
ham, who was Secretary of the Fore
ign Mission Board and one of the
most prominent .ministers in the
South. There were several artists
competing for this order but after
seeing several portraits by Mrs. Bur
well the committee awarded the order
to her.
Anne
Louncement Extraordinary
To be thoroughly in touch with the
times as regards fertilizer, farming
implements, vehicles, feed stuff, high
grade seed and flour, read the an
nouncement of Lyon-Winston Com
pany on the fourth page of this paper.
HO ROOM FOR COMPLAINT
IF YOU ARE POOR IT IS
OWN FAULT
YOUR
You Had a Chance to Make a Million
Dollars But You Failed to Grasp
the Opportunity The Money Was
Yours for the Asking.
The road to wealth is straight and
direct if v you once get on to it and
don't turn out.
The trouble with the most of us
poor mortals is that we dull our vis
ion with hard work and think that
if we take a day off now and then
things will go to everlasting smash,
and posibly it would with a great
many of us.
This was the third time in the life
of the editor of the Public Ledger
that fortune stared us in the face and
all he had to do was to extend our
hand and pull in a clear million dol
lars. If we had only exercised a lit
tle judgment and gathered in the
gold, the good people of Granville
would now be calling us the. "grand
Old Man" instead of "Old Uncle
Dan."
Porterhouse steak, automobiles,
private cars and the grand opera
was ours for the asking. We could
have made enough money in one day
to pave every street in Oxford and
have enough left to pay every man's
debts in Granville County and to fi
nance new industries and give every
idle person in town and country a
good fat job. It was ours for once
to do something for our town and
county, but we let the opportunity
slip.
This story may seem strange to a
lot of people, but it is absolutely true.
We simply lost out by not contract--.
ing , f or gasoline and quinine eigh-
teen months ago.
We shall always feel that we lost
a million dollars because our nose
was tied to the grind stone and we
would not look up.
Many of the commodities have
doubled and thribbled in the last
year. If you had invested $1000 a
year ago in some of the commodities
it would h,ave soon netted you $2000
and by following the same scheme
the $1,000,000 mark is reached.
Towns, like individuals, fail to
grasp opportunities.---The reason -that
Oxford is not twice as large as
Durham is attributed to the fact that 1
the people did not care to reach out
and gather in the gold.
Open Letter to Sheriff Hobgood
Bear Sir: The wife of an Oxford
lawyer has appealed to me to know
if I hav,e the authority to see that
the court room is properly ventilated
during the coming term of court. To
which I replied, "Not if Judge Cook
is going to preside." But he isn't.
It is a profound mystery to me
why sane men who stand by the hour
in God's sunshine and God's pure air
with no thought of cold or discomfort
will then go into a house that is over
crowded, close every window, heat
the stoves red hot and breathe the
foul air which comes directly from
the lungs of other men. This air is
loaded with the germs of disease. It
is in such places as the court room
that we contract colds, grip, pneu
monia, tuberculosis and a score of
other diseases.
May I not ask that you will see
that the court room is properly ven
tilated and that the law forbidding
spitting upon the floor is enforced.
Respectfully yours,
BENJ. K. HAYS,
Granville County Health Oflicer.
BOpTLEG LIQUOR
The Officers Bring in Reubin Parker,
the Inventor of a New Device
Sheriff Hobgood, Special Oflicer
Hutchins and Oflicer I. H. Hobgood
were advised Saturday that Rubin
Parker, an old colored offender who
resides just outside of the corporate
limits, was . at it again. They went
out to see Rubin, but they found him
to be the most sanctimonious cuss
they ever saw. He actually shed
tears to think that the -officers would
invade the home of an innocent man
and search for liquor, and when the
officers found no whiskey in his house
the old fellow told them that he hop
ed that they were satisfied that he
was an innocent negro. But the of
ficers were not satisfied and when
they started toward the barn Rubin's
legs began to twich. In one cor
ner of the barn they found an old
tool chest securely locked. As Reu
bin had no idea where the keys were,
the officers broke into the box and
found ten pints of liquor.
There was yet a greater surprise
in store for the officers. In leading
Reubin from the barn to the waiting
car they heard something rattle, and
on examination they found that Reu
bin had a lot of cords fastened to the
waistband of his pants. The officers
caughthold of one of the cords and
lifted out a pint of whiskey which
was dangling about Reubins legs. He
was very well supplied and was equ
ipped for the retail trade. He gave
bond, but Judge Devin will get . a
whack at him this week.