mm I . ft -ft m V1 Volume XLV gj Lenoir Topic, Ebged 1875 April t m9 lenqir, N. C, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1919 Priea, Fit Cents the Copy No. 7 SME OF THE COIL MINERS IS GALLED OFF "We Are American!; We Can't Fight the Government," Say Union Leaden a the Ctrike Or- , der U Killed The strike of the -coal miners has been called off and an official an nouncement to this effect was given out Monday afternoon by union of ficials. President John L. Lewis, head of the United Mine Workers of America, and his colleagues rescind ed the strike order before the time limit fixed by the court, and it is pre sumed that the men will soon go back to work. "Gentlemen, we will comply with the mandate of- the court. We do it under protest. We are Americans. We cannot fight our government That is all." This was the statement of President Lewis of the mine workers announcing the decision. The leaders early in the day Mon day agreed to call off the strike and later a message was received from W. B. Wilson, secretary of the de partment of agriculture, and Thomas T. Brewster, chairman of the operat ors' scale committee, b John L. ers, inviting the miners' representa tives into a conference. Mr. Lewis, on behalf of the mine workers, accepted the invitation of Secretary Wilson to meet the bitu minous operators -of the country in Washington today (Friday) morning at 11 o'clock and replied to Mr. Brewster, who requested a meeting of the central competitive scale com mittee with the operators of the dis trict in Washington Monday, the 17th, "to negotiate a contract to be in force upon the termination of the contract now in effect," that the min ers had already accepted the invita tion of Mr. Wilson. The invitation of Secretary Wil son was accepted, but the invitation extended by Mr. Brewster was re jected. In the Federal court at Indianap olis last Saturday cancellation of the strike order was ordered by Judge A. B. Anderson. Violation of the war-time Federal food and fuel con trol act, as alleged by the attorney general's department, was affirmed by the court, who said that the strike was not only illegal but that under the circumstances it approached re bellion. The court's order was so worded that failure to cancel the strike call or any affirmative word or action tending to "aid and abet" the contin uance of the strike, would make them violators of the injunction and iiH contempt of court. Under the order the union heads were to meet at Indianapolis Mon day, draw up a cancellation order, submit it to Judge Anderson's ap proval, all by 10 o'clock Tuesday morning and have notice of it on the way to all local and district unions by 6 o'clock Tuesday evening. Attorneys for the union asked postponement of a week, but Judge Ames, representing the government, objected. Then the government in troduced five affidavits as evidence that the .operation of the railroads was being interfered with and that contracts between employers and miners had been broken. The de fens eresponded with its motion for dissolution of the restraining order and arguments followed. . A dispatch from Indianapolis Wednesday says the United Mine Workers of America, contrary to previous announcement, have decided to withhold their appeal on the rul ing of the Federal court in injunc tion proceedings which resulted in the calling off fthe strike f cal min the calling off of the strike of coal miners Tuesday. It has been generally believed that regardless of developments in the sit uation the miners would fight their case in the courts to the last ditch, and attorneys for the coal workers announced that their appeal would be filed within two or. three days. However, Henry Warrum, chief coun sel for the miners workers' organiza tion, stated that the outcome of the conference of miners' reoresenta- -itives and: coal operators with Secre- tary of Labor , Wilson in Washing ton today woul ddetermine to a large extent whether the case is carried further. The miners' counsel have 30 days in which to file1 their appeal. . The decision of the miners Is taken to indicate that they have accepted the government's assurance that the miners was not an attack against the right to strike, but was solely to pre " vent violation of the law, in this case . the Lever act., ' , .,., REVISED CASUALTY LIST NOW SHOWS 293,089 AS TOTAL - In hte midst of the celebration Tuesday of the anniversary of the signing of the armistice, the tragedy of war again as emphasized by an nounceemnt -of a . revised list of American casualties, showing a total .of 293,080. W , The list includes 34,625 killed in action,' including 382' (lost at sea; died of wounds, 13,955; -died of dis ease, 23,692; died of accident and other causes, 5,326;' wounded in ac tion, 215,489; missing in action, 2. ; , V According to the Watauga Demo ! crat Mr. W. C. Coffey of! Boone mailed to Gov. Bickett last week a head of cabbage cut from his garden 'weighing exactly 22 pounds. - I. W. W.'S FIRE ON "AND KILL NUMBER OF PARADERS One of he boldest and most out rageous acts of the L W. W. occurred at Centralia, Wash., Tuesday when paraders in the. armistice day cele bration were fired upon and three men were killed and six wounded, all veterans of the European war. The I. W. W. hall was nearby and the soldeirs instinctively made a charge on that building. Several arrests have followed and the I. W. W, are receiving rough treatment for their murderous attempt on the cit izenship. The whole city had turned out to celebrate the anniversary of the sus pension of hostilities and a large pa rade was formed, headed by the city's boys who had helped bring about the glad day a year ago. Wearing the uniforms that sheltered them in the trenches in France and on the picket lines of the German border, the ser vice men weer the cynosure of the hundreds of women and children who lined the streets.' As the column swung around the corner at Tower avenue and Second avenue, the band struck up a patri otic march. Then bullets came into the ranks from an unseen enemy. Men fell to th peavement and the tiny rivulets of blood showed the spectators what had taken place, the crack of the rifles of the assassins having been drowned by the blare of the band. Tiny puffs of smoke from the roof of a nearby building indicated Whence the bullets had come, and the nearness of the I. W. W. hall led to the quick decision that the heroes who had weathered the sanguinary battlefields of Europe had been slain from ambush by radicals who op posed the American system' of gov ernment. The marching , soldiers did not lin- fer to await the order to fall out, ut with seeming intuition rushed into the nearby structure and sought their way to the roofs. The snipers had diappeared, 'but the service men sought highways and byways for all suspicious persons and then sent out pioneers into the timbered country around the city. The I. W. W., it is charged, fired, from roofs of buildings near their, hall. After the shooting a mob ran sacked the I. W. W. hall, tore down the front of the building and threw the furniture into the streets, where it was burned. The hall itself was not burned. Following the shooting the out raged soldiers an dcitizens raided the I. W. W. meeting place and surround ing buildings, seizing several mem bers of the I. W. W. and a quantity of arms and ammunition. Immediately after the shooting a crowd of spectators and marchers seized a man they believed to be the ringleader of the ly.W. W. They put a rope around . his; neck, threw the rop eover th ecrossbeam of a tele phone pole and started to haul him up. He was in the air only a brief period before the chief of police pre vailed upon theV.Wowd to let him down. The man Was almost dead when rescued. One I. W. W. was taken from the jail and hanged by the enraged citi zens. A heavy guard1 has been thrown around the jail to prevent further hangings, v VICTOR L. BERGER IS DENIED A SEAT CONGRESS Victor L. Berger M Milwaukee, so cialist, was denied,, his seat in the House Monday.ihy an overwhelming vote, the House holding he was ineli gible for membership because of his open opposition to the war. The vote to unseat Berger was 309 to 1, Rep resentative Voigt, Republican, of Wisconsin, being, the only member to support th eWisconsin socialist, eith er during the 'debate or on the roll call.. 'f'.v;'." After denying Ke seat to Berger the House declared that the seat was vacant, holdingthat, Joseph Carney, Democrat who v contested Berger's election, did not receive a plurality in the election )ast year. Without a record vote the . House also directed Speaker Gillette to notify the Wis consin governor-of the vacancy in the State election so that a special election may ;be called to choose a new member. . Av , SUGAR TO BE SOLD CONSUMER AT 18 K .CENTS POUND A price of,18H cents per pound is placed on New1 Orleans sugar whieh is now available to the trade, accord? ing to advices, deceived in Washing ton by Senator Simmons from the su gar division of the food administra tion. Under the price fixed the rer taile is allowed 1 cent per pound, while, the wholesale merchant is per mitted to receive , one-half cent per pound. , The 'wholesaler purchases the sugar froihthe .refiner at 17 cents per pound, thus comprising the total of 18 H cents, ,to the trade.- ; , $600,000,000 OF ROAD MONEY IS . f . NOW AVAILABLE More than $600,000,000 is avail able in the United States for con struction of hard" surface roads in 1920, according to a statement by the department of agriculture This sum is more than four tmies the amount estimated for. J 9 19. .Expenditure of the fund, the department announced, is dependent , only on the ability the railroads! toafurnish enough can to transport .material The depart ment will institute a national drive to influence" purchase and etorage of road building material during, the winter months , and to overcome the open-top car shortage. 1 MIOVEB LENOIR NEWS-TOPIC The News-Topic has moved office and plant to a new location the Harshaw building on the corner of Mulberry and East avenue. The old location on West Harper avenue was outgrown and larger quarters were necessary. Moving has been a stren uous job and ha scaused this week's paper to go to subscribers late. However, everything is nearly straightened out now and there should be no more delays. In moving the News-Topic has a location much better adapted to its work. All arrangements are better and the newspaper and job printing work can be handled more satisfactorily. In moving, the equipment from both the News and the old Topic plant have been combined and placed in the new location. In addition to combining these two plants new and up-to-date, machinery and other equipment have been added. The work of moving and putting up the presses, linotype and other machinery has taken up all the time of the entire force during the past week. This will account for the scarcity of local an dcounty news in this issue. Next week things will be better, is the sincere hope of all connected with the News-Topic organ THINKS LEVER ACT SHOULD BE EXTENDED SIX MONTHS Attorney General Palmer tells the House agriculture committee that ex tension of the Lever food and fuel control law for six months after' the proclamation of peace is necessary to protect the country from high prices. "Unnatural economic conditions," the attorney general said, would be taken "advantage of by unscrupulous people" to make prices high unless the powers granted under the act are continued in force. These condi tions, he said, prevailed throughout the world. "The conditions in the country im mediately following peace make it eevn more necessary that the law be continued than the LTB Sint to the enactment prevailed and led of the original act," sai dthe attor ney general. "The act originally had for its pur poses the increase of production, and to protect the people from war-time conditions that result in very high prices. Since the armistice prices have very largely increased, and un less the government control is con tinued over some. ' commodities the after-war conditions may result in higher prices than during the war itself." FIFTY-SEVEN FILED INCOME TAX RETURNS IN CALDWELL Fifty-seven persons in Lenoir .filed income tax returns last year, accord ing to a list jus tsent out from the office, of J. W. Bailey, internal freve nue collector. The list does not des ignate those eligible to pay income tax. It merely gives the. names of those who filled out and sent in the blanks. The list follows: Jas. A. Boldin, T. H. Broyhill, J. H. BealL Mrs. L. R. Bernhardt, A. A. Blackwelder, Jas. G. Ballew, Jacob A. Bush, Jr., M. la. Cornwell, r. rl. Lot- . L. Cornwell, F. H. Cof- ley, m. m. iounney, in. d. u.inr&, Benjamin Castine, R. S. Crisp, Har old Coffey, Lawrence H. Coffey, Wm. S. Craddock, Walter S. Covington, A. G. Foard, Julius C. Fletcher, J. C. Guire, Rufus L. Gwyn, Mary M. Gwyn, Vilgil D. Guire, Andy B. Good man, C. H. Hopkins, Albert Houck, G. W. F. Harper, G. F. Harper, F. R. Hicks, Moses M. Harshaw, J. T. In gram, Jr., St S. Jenrtings, A. G. Jor nas, Benjamin Jacobbson, A. A. Kent, Walter J. Lenoir, George E. Moore, W. L. Minish, O. L. Moore, Joseph C. Moore, H. T. Newland, W. , the measure, particularly because of C. Newland, J. L. Nelson, Edgar D. ! the labor provisions, was "ridicu Pulliam. L. E. Rabb. Edward F. Reid, i lous." "Tb nuhlie h nn riinrBntP n H W jrumam, u Kaon, toward r . ueia, Robert L. Steele, j. W. Self, J. C. Seagle, B. L. Stone, Mark Squires, David W. Turner, M. M. Teague, Lawrence, Wakefield, F. C. White, T. M. White! John H Beard, Valmead. MANY GRIEVE OVER DEATH OF MRS. TRIPLETT Few deaths' in Lenoir have caused the universal grief as that of Mrs. Molton Triplett, who died Sunday af ternoon of last week at the Richard Baker hospital in Hickory. Mrs. Triplett had been taken to the hos pital several day prior to her death for an operation and treatment. She was thought to be getting along nice ly until Sunday morning, when Mr. Triplett was telephoned that compli cations had set in and that the end was nera. Mr. Triplett and .the en itre family went to Hickory at once and were at the bedside unti lthe end. f Mrs.' Triplett was 46 years old. She was a member of the First Bap tist church and was greatly loved by many friends.. Besides her husband she is survived by, four children two daughters, Misses Lucile and Mildred, and two sons, James and Woodrow. i One son, Thomas, died less than a year ago from influneza. The funeral services were conduct ed front th ehmo eby her pastor, Rev. J. .Hoyle of the First - Baptist church; assisted by Rev. I. W. Thom as.,!. Interment followed fit Belleview cemetery, ' TO NEW QUARTERS RAILROAD BILL IS TO BE ACTED UPON SATURDAY The railroad bill had right of way in the. House Monday, with final vote set for tomorrow (Saturday), under an agreement reached by leaders. Action on the bill will be followed immediately by adjournment of a special session of Congress, the agreement provides, consideration of the measure by the Senate going over until the regular session beginning in December. Under the rule adopted Monday night the House agreed to meet two hours earlier than customary and to begin night sessions immediately. The House program was framed af ter Representative Mondell of Wy- t u i : i i i I had een informed by Senator Lodge Lv, q, ij.. iL-j a,. viiav icimiv icnucia nuclei lu uloIUOtr of the German peace treaty by the end of the week. In the formal report of the House railroad bill, made Monday by Chair man Esch of the interstate commerce commitee, it was revealed that the measure contained a mandate, to the carriers to apply for general in creases of rates within 60 days after their return to private ownership. Unless such applications for increases are made to the interstate commerce commission the bill will deny them the guaranty, including continuance by the government of their standard return for six months and their priv ilege of obtaining government loans. Simultaneously with the report of the House measure Senator Cum mins, chairman of the Senate inter state commerce committee, submitted a report expressing his individual views on the Senate plan of perma. nent railroad legislation. Defendinir the anti-strike provision of the Sen- ate bill, eSnator Cummins declared that "strikes of railway workers must cease," and that the arbitration boards created by the bill would srive justice to all," even assuring the un ions that they can accomplish more through the boards than by strikes. Antt-tstrike legislation is not a part of the. House measure, said Chairman Esch in his report, declar ing that the House committee de cided that such provisions were "un wise," and in lieu thereof adopted plans for conciliation through volun tary arbitration of disputes. His re port provoked the first attack on the House bill. Renreaent&tivA "Rlentnn. I Democrat, of Texas, complaining that ' il- - il I 1 i a j ius." "The public has no guarantee ; 0r even promise against continued tie-ups of government industreis," Representative Blanton asserted. SENATE PLANS TO CHOKE DOWN DEBATE ON TREATY Summary action to choke down de bate on the peace treaty was-decided on by the treaty's iriend3 in the Sen ate Wednesday to meet developments regarded by many Senators as the beginning of a filibuster against rati fication. Two petitions to invoke the Sen ate's cloture rule, which never here tofore has been used, have been pro- I Refiners' distributing committee, in posed to be submitted should, it be- tJe following telegram to Senator come apparent that dilatory tactics Simmons, holds out hope, for sugar: have bene adopted byHhe group ir-1 "Replying to your telegram, would reconcilably opposed to the treaty. 881 that the allotments for North The first proposal was drawn by the - Carolina are now being made and the democrats, and the other was being entire State should be taken care of formulated by the mild reservation V in the near future. The chief cause group of Republicans. . .1 of the complaint results from the Under the rule, which could be longshoremen's strike, tha tha$ tied made effective beginning Saturday .up shipping in New York harbor for by a two-thirds vote, no Senator "the last month and prevented refin could speak more than one hour in ers from operating. Consequently all all until a vote on ratification had invisible supplies in the country and been reached. No specific time could stocks were reduced to a minimum." be set under the provision fo such i , ' v I ', a vote, but the. leaders predicted that ' Happiness,", says Uncle Eben, "is it would force final actionif resorted e ability to forget about de ehower to early next week. i i in admirm' de beauty of de rainbow." ; To further hasten-the treaty it was , . ' , 1 ," 1 ' ' tentatively agreed to hold night fces-j A sweet potato wss exhibited in sions of the Senate beginning Thurs-, Gaffney, S. C, a few days that day night and continuing until there has Been a ratmcntion voto. , i GOV. BICKETT ISUUES A CALL FOR THANKS i Ffruitful harvests, prosperous in dustries, the mighty triumph of spir , itual forces, freedom from industrial strife and racial bitterness these . are the blessings for which North Carolina should return thanks on the i day set apart for Thanksgiving in the '. iiation, according to Gov. Bickett, who Wednesday issued his annual , Thanksgiving day proclamation, which follows: "Our forefathers established the" beautiful custom of setting apart one day near the end of the harvest time to return thanks to Almighty God for the blessings of life. "In this good yeear, 1919, how mi'h have we for which to be grate ful! "Our soldiers who on last Thanks eiving day were far away in foreign lands have safely crossed the seas, and are at home again in happiness and in peace. "The Lord of the Harvest has been good to us. Our fields have yielded bountifully. Our industries have thrived wonderfully. Prosperity smiles on farm and factory, bank and store. In every line of business en deavor we are prospering beyond the fondest dreams of our fathers. "There has been also a mighty tri umph of spiritual forces in our midst for which we should be profoundly grateful. The fruits of this victory are seen in the great forward move ments of all the churches; in the finer educational advantages enjoyed by all the children of the State; in the growing demand for complete economic and social justice in taxa tion and all other matters; and in the larger opportunities offered on every hand to the average man and the average woman. "Surely in this day God has given to men everywhere a bigger, broader conception of Christian service than they ever had before. "North Carolina is singularly blessed in that in this time of tur moil she is almost entirely free from industrial and racial bitterness and strife. We should be deeply thank ful for the spirit of friendship and good will that prevails among us. Let us pray for absolute justice for all, by which alone this spirit may be strengthened and maintained. "Now, therefore, I, Thomas Wal ter Bickett, Governor of North Caro lina, in obedience to the custom es tablished by our fathers and in ac cordance with the proclamation of the President of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 27th, a day of public Thanksgiving. "Let this be a day of rest and re joicing, observed by everybody. Let us not forget the orphan, the poor and the unfortunate. I earnestly trust tha tall the people will assemble in their places of worship and make this a real Thanksgiving Day. "Done at our City of Raleigh, this the 12th day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and nineteen, and in the one hundred and forty-fourth year of our American independence." TELEPHONE COMPANIES CAN CONTINUE PRESENT RATES In a decision last Friday the State corporation commission! allows the Bell Telephone Company and the Asheville Telephone Company to keep in effect the long-distance and local rate allowed by the srovern- nrent. The decision is applicable to all other telephone companies in the State. ! The order was made in response ; to a petition of the companies to be allowed to retain their war-time rates at the expiration of the four months allowed by Congress when the companies were turned back to the private owners. This period would expire Dec. 1. In ordering a reten tion of war rates the commission re quires that all local and long-distance exchanges in the State make a com plete financial statement on income and expenses from July of this year to Jan. 1, and quarterly thereafter. Justification for the order is found in the exhibits of the companies. showing that during 1918 the Bell masla ah it O 19 : VillJT 4..4.U yCi tCUh Uli 1 U5 III- vestment and with the exception of April and July of this year this in- come ran behind operating expenses. The. order also says tha tno opposi tion was offered when the petition was heard Sept. 25. There has also been a big increase in cost operation, which should be taken care of if the companies are to continue in busi ness. The order says the commission does not prevent a city or an indi vidual, from bringing action asking for decrease in rates at any time. PROSPECTS FOR SUGAR NOW SEEM TO BE GOOD Chairman Lowry of the American weighed 114 pounds. It was of the l or:o Kiean variety. ft COL. MERRIAM, ILLINOIS PIO NEER, IS KILLED BY TRAIN The following, taken from an Illi nois paper,' will be of interest to Le noir folks because of the fact that Col. Merriam was the father of Mrs. Wallace Conley, who formerly lived here, Mr. Conley being the son of Mrs. Josie Conley: "Col. Jonathan Merriam, Illinois pioneer, former political leader and delegate from Tazewell county to the State constitutional convention kt, Springfield in 1870, was killed yes terday by a Chicago & Northwestern passenger train at Wheaton, where he had made his home for many years. Col. Merriam, who was 85 years old, had started to walk down town about 4:30 in the afternoon. He reached the railroad crossing at Wheaton avenue as the train, north bound, was approaching a few hun dred feet away. He did not observe it. Few persons witnessed the acci dent. Death was instantaneous. The body was hurled clear of the tracks. It was taken to an undertaking estab lishmne tin Wheaton. "Col. Merriam was one of the few remaining figures of the picturesque days when the history f o Illinois and the nation was in the making. Born in Vermont Nov. 1, 1834, he traveled while still an infant in a prairie schooner to what was then America's frontier. "His father bought a farm in Taze well county. It was there he grew up. He wanted an education, so he chopped wood, did chores in his spare moments, and earned enough to pay his way through college. "When the civil war came he was one of the. first volunteers. Enlisting as a private, he climbed to a lienten ant colonelcy, serving with Col. Ris den Moore in the 117th Illinois in fantry. "Soon after the war he began an agitation for a revision of the State's constitution, pointing out the many defects of the existing constitution. Other men followed his lead. In De cember, lh69, the convention con vened at Springfield. His work there made so great an impression upon the people that at the ensuing Re publican convention to name candi dates for congressmen Tazewell county sent a solid delegation for Merriam. Shelby M. Cullom, who represented the district,, laughed at the soldier's claims. But Merriam received the nomination by a large majority. A Democrat was elected. "In 1873 President Grant appoint ed Col. Merriam collecter of internal revenue at Springfield. He held the office until 1882, when he resigned to enter the banking business at Pe kin, 111. He remained there eleven vears. "From 1894 until 1898 he served as member of the house of represent atives in the State legislature. Pres ident McKinley appointed him col lector of internal revenue at Chicago in 1898. He was reappointed by President Rooseevlt in 1902. He re signed in 1906 to retire from public life." "NO LET-UP UNTIL COUNTRY IS RID OF EVERY RADICAL" Deportation proceedings have been intsituted in a number of cities to rid the country of th eviolent radi cal scaught in the nation-wide raids which have been in progress since last Friday, Attorney General Palmer has announced. Instructions have gone to all de partment of justice agents, the attor ney general said, to permit no delay in instituting formal hearings, pre- i liminary to actual deportations. As- surances hav ebeen received from I other government departments hav- ing to do with deportation that action would De taicen to expedite me cases. In the meantime the clean-up of the country will continue, Mr. Palmer announcing that there must "no let up." The total number actually held on deportation warrants has reached about 400, while from some cities in which radical leaders were picked up reports had not reached the depart ment. Efforts of the department repre sentatives, it was said, are benig di rected more particularly at the union of Russian workers. This organiza tion, branded by the attorney gen eral as the most dangerous anarch istic group in the country, was said to have wide ramifications, with tha department agents still uncovering new evidences of its activities. Opinion at the department of jus tic eas expressed seemed to be that the Russian union perhaps was con stituting itself a self-appointed lead er of all organizations which are preaching overthrow of the govern ment. Literature seized was said to ' show that the organization accepts support from almost any source so long as it was working to defeat authority and destroy private prop- erty rights. Officials said they had 1 evidence showing that leaders of the union had made overtures to other ' and lesser, groups of radicals to join their organization, holding out prom-' ises of rewards when state and so ciety are overthrown. - , . Because they are regarded as the most dangerous of all radical types those arrested in the recent raids are being held in $ 10,000 bail, officials said. Peter Blanki and Adolph Schna beL both former secretaries of the union of Russian workers, have been held in bail of $15,000. About 4 per cent of children are left-handed from birth. A bolshevik report ' received through German sources says that 630 of the 1,060 inmates of Kresty pr'son in Pstrard have died of star- 1" i