0 v i viim The Lnoir Topic, (Established 1875 n .., . . . ., . .aia Vol. XLVI The Lenoir New Established 1898 Con.oW.ud Aprd 1. 1919 LENOIR, N. C, THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 1921 Price, Fit Coat tb Cfy No. 39 DURHAM WINS IN STATEWIDE DEBATE Lenoir and Oak Hill Losers The Baseball Champion ship Is Unsettled With the victory of Durham high school in tre State-wide debating contest an-l of Chnpel Hii in the intenahi'.astic track meet two more contests a' 'iv'td by tfr. U.i versry t North C.i-c'ma for the h'gh schools have psised iu'o history wit.i sweeping .success. More than 200 hundred schools, literally from the mountains to the sea, were entered in the debate this year. From as far east as Curri tuck, Pamlico and Columbus counties and as far west as Alleghany, Hay wood and Buncombe high school boys and girls dug deep into the question of collective bargaining through trade unions. Eight hundred of them who were chosen to represent their schools met in dual and trian gular contests two weeks ago before an aggregate audience estimated at more than 50,000 North Carolinians who heard a vital question of Ameri can life discussed intelligently and vigorously. "It raised the thought level of North Carolina one notch higher," is the way one. well known North Carolinian phrased it. An even fifty schools, winners in the first contest, sent 200 debaters, nearly half of them girls, to Chapel Hill for the further elimination rounds. All save 13 teams on each side of the debate were eliminated in the first round at the University, and all save Greensboro and Durham were eliminated in the second round. For the final debate 1,500 persons thronged the wide sweeps of Memo rial hall at the University and five University professors by unanimous decision gave the victory to Durham, and with the victory went the Ay cock memorial cup, emblematic for nine years now of highest honors in debating. The interscholastic track meet was held at Chapel Hill at the same time as the debate. Oak Hill students took part in these events. The en tries were more than twice as large as ever before and the meet, handled by University students on Emerson field, resulted in four new records by the younp athletes. Chapel Hill, through superiority in tlw iumpslhei weights and the pole vault, wrested a last minute victory from Greens boro, whose athletes had shown clear superiority in the running events. Incidentally, Chapel Hill continued a remarkable athletic year. Previously her athletes had won highest honors in football and basketball. Burling ton came third in the meet and Oak Ridge fourth. Other schools entered included Friendship, Wilson, Casta lia, Wilmington, Durham, Raleigh and Red Oak. The high school baseball cham pionship still remains to be settled. Plans announced by E. R. Rankin, secretary of the University commit tee in charge of the contests, call for a conference soon among the man agers of the teams in the eastern part of the State and the western part to arrange dates for the cham pionship series. Greensboro won last year in a close contest from Burgaw. NORTH CAROLINA'S CREDIT IS GOOD IN NEW YORK North Carolina's road building pro gram and her permanent improve ment program for the State institu tions shall not suffer for the want of money, the wizards of the money market assure Uov. Morrison, who laid the news before the council of state Monday, says R. E. Powell in the Charlotte Observer. The governor and State Treasurer Ben Lacy have just returned after visiting with the metropolitan bank ers for ten days. Wall street made them welcome, and it wasn't levity that prompted the governor to tell the scribes that North Carolina's credit is better than Pierpont Mor gan's, vanderbilt s or John D.'s. big bankers told Gov. Morrison and Mr. Lacy, and it stands a better chance of getting millions than Mor gan. Besides this, they know that the State doesn't owe but $11,000. 000, and if it had to close out it wouldn't take all its hauid assets (railroad stocks) to pay every out standing obligation. The council of state received the news with gusto. There has been slight trepidation among some of the folks over the success of the State's venture in the world of money, but Messrs. Morrison and Lacy have mighty nigh dissipated the fear. The? can borrow money, perhaps, at 6, and leave it is the New York banks, subject to Treasurer Lacy's draft, and he will draw as the contracting forces are ready to spend it. No de cision has been reached as to floating any immediate loan, this having been left entirely with the disbursing agencies. ARE HOLDING UP THE NAMES OF DRAFT EVADERS The opinion of the department of justice as to the possible liability of the government, the secretary of war and the newspaper for the publica tion of the names of persons which may be erroneously included in the lists of draft evaders prepared by the war department will be sent to Secretary Weeks this week. Attor ney General Daugherty said. Pub lication of the lists has been held uo by Secretary Weeks pending receipt ot the opinion. SCHOOL BOND ELECTION CAR RIED BY LARGE MAJORITY Only 33 persons out of 420 voting voted against the $150,000 school bond issue here Monday. The ma jority for the bonds was much great er than any of the bond advocates anticipated. For several weeks prior to the election it seemed that quite a bit of opposition had developed. However, it failed to show up on election day. The number of votes cast by women about equalled those cast by men. Recently the school board bought a valuable piece of property located near the center of the town for a central school plant. This piece of property comprises about seven acres and is ideally located. The building plan is on a unit basis. First, the main building and then additional buildings as future needs come up will be constructed on the same prop erty. The present school building on North Main street near the busi ness district will be abandoned as a school building and sold. For years Lenoir has felt the need of better school facilities and during the past few years any movement for build ing has been put off on account of the war and other conditions. It is planned now to have the new school building and plant ready for occu pancy by next fall. No definite plans as to the build ing to be constructed have been adopted. This will be done within the next few weeks and as quickly as the bonds are disposed of, or the money is provided, actual construc tion will be begun. HALF OF THE AUTOMOBILES ARE BOUGHT ON TIME Nearly half of the .people who buy cars today pay for them on the in stallment plan. This is the conclu sion made by statisticians of the Gen eral Motors Acceptance Corporation on the basis of returns from more than 1,000 dealers in the United States. The report shows that these deal ers sold 149,136 cars, of which 79, 407 were bought outright and 69.729 were sold "on time," making 46.7 per cent of the total number. The period of these sales covered perhaps the best selling period in automobile history, from Aug. 1, 1919, to July 31, 1920. Farmers buy more cars on time than they do for cash, according to this report. City dwellers pay cash more frequently than the farmers. wily ii.9 jttient ofJtKe cars, gold, to the former being through credit ar rangement. The average down payment on all time-payment sales is 40.3 per cent of the cash price. The. average time allowed on these payments is 9.3 months to city car owners and 11.1 months to farmers. STATE S. S. CONVENTION HOLDS ... SUCCESSFUL MEETING The State Sunday school conven tion held in Raleigh last week proved to be a very successful meeting. There were 857 registered delegates who attended the- sessions of the. con vention, besides hundreds of visitors. Forty-three counties of the State sent delegates. The addresses delivered by several people of national reputation were of a very high order, and very much enjoyed, also very helpful and in spiring. Several resolutions con cerning different phases of the work were passed. Mr. Gilbert T. SteDhenson of Win ston-Salem was re-elected president of the convention. The convention will meet in Charlotte next April. BLOWING ROCK'S BIGGEST SEASON Electric Light Plant and Steam Laundry Being Installed; Other Improvements Arrangements and plans for Blow ing Rock's biggest season are rapidly going forward, according to W. L. Alexander, developer of the Mayvie.w Park property, who was here yester day. Mr. Alexander said that with in another week equipment for the electric lighting and power plant will arrive and installation will begin. This plant will develop 50 horse power for lighting homes and other domestic uses on the Mayview Park development. Complete equipment for a modern steam laundry was un loaded here yesterday and taken to Blowing Rock. This is being installed by Mr. Alexander in connection with his big development Mr. Alexander isenthusiastic over the outlook for a paved road between Charlotte and Boone. He believes that this will be some of the first work to be done un der the present highway administra tion. Jsuch a highway is of more im portance to this mountain, country than a railroad would be, he said. WESTERLUND-SHERRILL At the First Baptist church last Monday about 1 o'clock a quiet but impressive ceremony united in mar riage Mr. Charles A. Westerlund of Rock Hill, S. C., and Miss Rachel Love Sherrill of Granite Falls, Rev, J. m. Hoyie omciatmg. Only the re quired witnesses were present. MEETING AT FAIRVIEW There will be an evangelistic meet ing at Fairview school House, begin ning Sunday night, April 24. An evangelist from Statesville is expect ed to do the preaching. It is ear nestly hoped that the churches of the city will co-operate as far as pos sible. , D. M. ARMENTROUT. SCHOOL BONDS ARE VOTEDATGRANITE Will Select New Location for Building Dudley Shoals Votes Special Tax The school bond election at Gran ite Falls for $175,000 carried in Mon day's election by a majority of 132 votes over the registration. There were 380 voters registered, with 256 voting for the bonds, 47 against the bonds and 77 not voting. The wom en of Granite Falls saved the day is the way a visitor from that place put it yesterday. A squabble had arisen over the lo cation for the new school building, and it was believed that this contro versy would .very nearly defeat the bond issue. Many patrons of the district wanted the building more centrally located, and it was decided that the location south of the depot and east of the railroad would serve the purpose. Nothing has been done about providing for the location, but it is the general belief that the loca tion mentioned will be adopted. The special tax election for Dud ley Shoals district for 10 cents on the. hundred dollars valuation and 30 cents on the poll was carried by a vote of 71 for the special tax against 8 opposing the special tax. One hun dred and twenty-one voters had reg istered. Dudley Shoals plans to in crease its school facilities and equip ment before another term begins. WOULD COMPROMISE ON HOUSE MEMBERSHIP OF 460 Representatives who made an un successful attempt last session to in crease the size of the House to 483 members have begun a compromise movement to boost the membership to 460. Chairman Siegel of the census committee said there was a growing sentiment in favor of an increase, and predicted that a membership of 460 would meet with approval. A number of representatives from States that would lose seats if no in crease were authorized and who vot ed for maintaining the present size of the House, now favor a compro mise, he added. During the last session the House voted to hold its membership to 435, reapportioned on the basis of the 1920 census. The bill died in the Senate.. Mr. Siegel said he probably would introduce a bill in a few days to increase the number of represent atives to 460. He already has intro duced a resolution calling for a con stitutional amendment that would permanently limit the size of the House to 500 members. Representa tive Blanton, Democrat, of Texas, has introduced a bill reducing its size to 304 members. ATTORNEY SINGLETON OPENS LAW OFFICE HERE Attorney H. J. Singleton of Red Springs, Robeson county, has opened a law office here in the Lenoir Drug Company building. Prior to the war Mr. Singleton practiced law in Lum berton as a member of the firm of McNeill & Singleton. Early in the war Mr. Singleton enlisted and was attached to the first division. Later he was transferred to the 166th air squadron and served throughout the remainder of the war. Following the armistice he was with the army of occupation in Germany and later spent several months in Paris taking a special course at Sorbonne Univer sity. Mr. Singleton is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, law school class of 1915. He is also a graduate of the law school of the University of Virginia. PROBABLY 18 OR 20 NEGROES KILLED IN JASPER COUNTY Announcement that indications pointed to 18 or 20 negroes in all having been killed on the John S. Williams farm in Jasper county, Georgia, through a period extending as far back as 1910 and of their in tention to widen the scope of their investigations into alleged peonage in Jasper and other Georgia counties has been made, by agents of the de partment of justice. Names of three more negroes alleged to have been killed were made public. HEN KILLS CHICKEN HAWK After a fight lasting but a few min utes and witnessed bv members of the family of R. L. Tyson, a farmer residing about a mile from Carthage, a Rhode. Island Red hen killed a blue darter chicken hawk. The hawk had previously carried away five little chickens, and when he returned for the sixth the hen was ready and gave battle. The hawk, which measured 31 inches from tip to tip, and was fully grown and developed, put up a game fight, but was killed by the hen after a few minutes. 30th DIVISION VETERANS ARE TO TOUR BATTLEFIELDS Plans are practically complete for the tour of the battlefields of Europe by veterans of the 30th division this summer, according to letters being sent to ex-service men from Guy if. May, general chairman, Knoxville, Tenn. The party leaves New York July 12 and returns Aug. 21. In the letter is enclosed a man of the coun tries to be visited and the itinerary to be followed. POWERFUL NEW POISON A liquid poison so strong that three drops will kill anyone whose skin it touches has been discovered by the Chemical Welfare Service. It is planned to use the liquid from airplanes; causing it to fall like rain. CALL FOR TOWN ELECTION ISSUED New Registration Mass Meet ing Will Be Held Friday, 29th of April A call has been issued by the town commissioners for the town election to be held on Monday, the 2nd day of May. The mass meeting or pri mary will be held on the night of rriday, April 29, at the court house. The mayor will issue a call for this primary in. next week's paper. This year's election seems to prom ise no contest for any of the offices. Mayor Pritchett has announced his candidacy for re-election, and no an nouncement of any opposition has been made. There is absolutely no talk concerning the board of com missioners. A new registration has been called. This is on account of the enfranchise ment of the women. All persons en titled to vote should register on or before Saturday, April 30. Mayor Pritchett has the registration books in his office over the Lenoir Drug Company. KNOX RESOLUTION TO END WAR IS AGAIN INTRODUCED In line with the recommendation in President Harding's message, a resolution to end the state of war with Germany and Austria was in troduced last Wednesday by Senator Knox of Pennsylvania. It is similar to the one adopted previously by Congress and vetoed by former Pres ident Wilson. It will be reported favorably in a few days by the foreign relations committee and then brought up for debate after disposal of the Colom bian treaty, according to Senator Lodge of Massachusetts, Republican leader. Senator Knox's resolution differs little from that which he sponsored before. As suggested in President Harding's address it contains no gen eral declaration of American policy with respect to future action by the United States, but is confined to measures for ending technically the state of war with the imperial Ger man and Austrian governments. It also would reserve to the United States all rights and privileges under the treaty of Versailles and to alien inemy property Raised daringihe war. " MR. WEBB DENIES STATEMENT ABOUT CAPT. ROSS Editor News-Topic: Will you kindly put this in your paper? I wish to make clear to your readers a statement 1 made to one of the witnesses who testified in the Campbell-Doughton contest. I said that somebody told me that Capt. Ross voted at Lenoir as an absentee voter, and that his home was in Ches ter, S. C. ; then I said that I did not believe that Capt. Ross would do such a thing, but if he did it was wrong. I did not say that Capt. Ross voted at every station between Lenoir and Chester. Yours truly, N. T. WEBB. (Note. The above statement is made to clear Capt. Ross of the charge alleged in the testimony of J. M. Harshaw in the Campbell con test hearing, in which Mr. Harshaw said that Mr. Webb told him that Capt. Ross voted in every precinct between Lenoir and Chester.) WOMEN MAY BE TAKEN INTO KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS A resolution to permit women to become members of the Knights of Pythias fraternal organization will be introduced before the supreme lodge meeting at San Francisco this year by Kev. Louis J. Bnstow, supreme representative from South Carolina, says a dispatch from Greenville. CALDWELL COUNTY BOY ON A SOCIETY CIRCUS PROGRAM Mr. Frederick M. Dula, son of Dr. A. W. and Mrs. Dula, was a member of the University gym team which entertained the Wake Shrine Club in a society circus in Raleigh a couple of weeks ago. His performance was on the parallel bars. He has made a good record in athletics at the Uni versity this year. BATON SCHOOL CLOSING The. Baton school commencement will be held Friday night, Saturday and Saturday night. The annual ad dress will be delivered Friday night at 8 o'clock by Attorney L. S. Spur ling. MECKLENBURG VOTES A ROAD BOND ISSUE OF $2,000,000 Mecklenburg county "pulled her self out of the mud" Tuesday when the county was carried by a majority of 2,161 votes for a bond issue of $2,000,000 for good roads. CATAWBA COUNTY VOTED FOR HALF MILLION ROAD BONDS Catawba county Tuesday voted fa vorably on a road bond issue of $500,000 for hard-surfaced high ways. There's no use denying that some of this 1921 bootleg liquor would make ideal snake-bite medicine, if it could be applied to the snake in time. Kansas City tar. , . The Japanese bury their dead in a sitting posture, following a custom centuries old. This is done to save apace. Three can be buried in the space of one American grave. BOY BITTEN SATURDAY BY A MAD DOG Harry Thomas McGhee, the 5-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. James Mc Ghee, who live east of town, was bitten Saturday by a mad dog. Tues day morning Mr. McGhee left to take his son to Raleigh, where he will be given the Pasteur treatment. The child was bitten on the hand and Mr. McGhee feared the dog might be suf fering from hydrophobia and brought the child to town Saturday for medi cal attention. He was advised by Dr. White to kill the dog and send its head for examination. Dr. White sent the dog's head to Raleigh on Monday and Tuesday afternoon he received a message stating that the examination showed the dog to be suffering from rabies. The child's hand on Monday showed considerable irritation and swelling and Mr. Mc Ghee became alarmed and thought it best to take the child immediately to Raleig.h He left here befdre the message was received by Dr. White. The dog was a stray poodle res cued from the creek in Saturday's freshet. It is said that some other children were bitten by the same dog. Reports reaching here say that two or wore Bentley children were bitten by the dog. However, these reports have not been verified. THOMASVILLE OFFICER IS SHOT BY PROMINENT DOCTOR John E. Taylor, chief of police of Thomasville, and ex-service man, was shot and almost instantly killed, and Henry Shaver, a mechanic in a furniture factory, was seriously wounded at Thomasville Saturday morning by Dr. J. W. Peacock, one of the most prominent physicians in Davidson county, and until about two weeks ago a member of the city council. The immediate cause of the shooting is said to be ill feeling which had existed between the physician and chief for some time. Saturday morning about 2:30 Dr. Peacock's barn was burned and he is said to have placed the blame on Chief Tay lor. The shooting is said to be one of the most brutal and .cold-blooded murders ever committed in Davidson county. From his office on the second floor of a building on Salem street Dr. Peacock fired two shots from a shot gun at Chief Taylor, who was stand ing obliquely across the street, about 75 feet away. The first load struck the chief in the face and on the up per part of the chest. Eve-witnesses stated that he threw -up his hands. audi screamed "Uh!" and turned. As he turned a second blast struck him on the right shoulder and back. These two shots, according to physicians who performed the autopsy, would not necessarily have caused immedi ate death. But Dr. Peacock rushed from his office down to the street. By this time the wounded policeman had entered a grocery store in a dazed condition. At this moment Shaver and R. C. Alexander took hold of him in an effort to keep him on his feet. Dr. Pecaock, with a large weapon, a German Luger automatic, entered and opened fire. It was the bullets from this vicious Teutonic pistol that caused death. I wo bullets entered the left breast, near the heart. Tay lor crumpled up and fel to the floor on his face. Not content with what he had done, the doctor sent two more bullets into the head. One emerged above the right eye, while the second came out through the nose, both burying themselves in the floor. Dr. Peacock was arrested shortly after the. shooting and taken to Lex ington, where he was lodged m jail COUNTY SINGING IS COMING SOON NOW Other Counties Want to Send Classes Preparations Are Being Made The singing convention which is to meet at Lower Creek church on Sun day, May 1, promises to be the big gest in the history of the association, according to J. R. Swanson, presi dent. Mr. Swanson says that letters have come in from other counties asking for a place on the Oroeram This will be allowed and the conven tion this year will be more than a county-wide event. Already letters have come in from many classes in the county assuring that they will be present Wherever the convention has been held during the past few years the capacity has been taxed to take care of the crowd. The crowds have gone with each con vention, and this year it is beleived that the biggest crowd ever in at tendance will be present ALL FRUIT NOT KILLED All fruit in Caldwell county is not killed, according to J. P. Griffin, who lives just west of Whitnel. Mr. Grif fin was here Saturday and brought the JNews-lopic a bunch of peaches. Dula Beauty apples, early June ap ples, a bunch of plums and some roe strawberries. Mr. Griffin says that he has about 100 peach trees, and that practiclaly all of them are heav ily laden with young fruit K ) His loss from the freeze, he savs. is very little, but in orchards adjoin ing his, but on lower ground, all tne iruit was xouna to be Killed. Other reports coming in from dif ferent sections of the county indi cate that there will be. quite a few apples, with some other fruit provid ed another cold snap docs not get tnem. SNOW FEL AT BOONE SUNDAY Prof. Dougherty III Recital at the Training School; Other News (By J. M. Downum) Boone, April 20. A ball game on Friday afternoon, the 15th, between the Training School and the town of Boone resulted in a score of 11 to 2 in favor of the school team. Several hikes have been partici pated in during the past week by stu dents and teachers from the Training School which wer enot only enjoyable br.t helpful to all concerned. Another wintry spell of weather is pUIJ 111 LI11S 3CV at M119 TV 1 iwuft. with some snow falling Sunday ana Monday and the temperature stand- :ig below the freezing point. Ssuch is April in the mountains. A play was given in the auditorium of the Training School on Tuesday evening, the 12th, for the benefit of the athletic fund. The performance was interesting from start to finish, those taking part doing that part well, some especially well. A large audience was present. An occasion of unusual interest at the Training School was the pro gram on Monday evening, the 18th, wlien Misses Alice Hunt and Doris Pennington gave their graduating re cital in piano. These young ladies are skilled musicians beyond the usual and more than met the expec tations of the occasion. We confi dently expect good things from them in their chosen course. Prof. D. D. Dougherty has been on the sick list for several days and the superintendent has been in charge at the school. On Saturday, April 9, they both attended the funeral of their cousin in Morristown, Tenn., and the superintendent informs your correspondent that Saturday, April 9, 1921, was the first day since the Training School opened 18 years ago- that one of the Doughertys was not at the school, except some years ago during the summer school, when Frof. D. u. Dougherty was in Raleigh and the superintendent being scik, Prof. Downum had charge for about two weeks. WATAUGA & YADKIN RIVER R.R. MAY BE OPENED FOR TRAFFIC --Belief that the- Watauga & Yadki River l&ilroad. which has been con structed between North Wilkesboro and Darby, a distance of 27 miles. will be operated this season was strengthened by reports that efforts to obtain co-operation of individuals, corporations and cities directly inter ested will be made in the next few weeks, according to a dispatch sent out from Hickory. The railroad is owned by Frederick Fair of Oil City, Pa., who purchased it in court pro ceedings after the bankruptcy of the late W. J. Grandin, and whose inten tion is said to be to put the road on its feet. Several possibilities are shown to exist if the roadway is ever repaired and trains set in motion again. Mr. Grandin went broke as a re sult of two floods, one in 1916 and the other in 1918, which washed away the two bridges over the Yad kin and Reddies rivers and found him unable to finance the rebuilding of the bridges. The roadbed is in good shape, considering the length of time it has been idle, and only minor re pairs are needed. The road owns two locomotives, several passenger cars and a number of freight cars. From Darby, the terminus oMhe road, to Boone is about 17 miles. The Norfolk & Western runs to Todd, 12 miles from Boone, and from Grandin to Lenoir is 15 aniles. By building a few links in the mountains good rail road service can be furnished. North Wilkesboro people are deep ly interested in the Watauga & Yad kin River railroad, as also is the Elk Creek Lumber Company, which pur chased the Grandin timber interests and owns about 60,000 acres of tim bered and cut-over lands. Without a. railroad this company cannot mar ket its products. Judge W. B. Council of Hickory, who represented Mr. Fair in the liti gation which ended with a clear title in the United States Supreme Court, says, according to the Hickory dis patch, that in spite, of the tight money market prospects were good for developments in the next week or two. DOLLAR DAY HERE WAS A GREAT SUCCESS The Dollar Day crowd here last Thursday was the biggest here since the last fair. Included in the big crowd were many people from Wa tauga and other adjoining counties. For hours at a time stores were jammed to a point where it was im possible for the sales people to take care of the crowds. .Street in front of the stores were so congested it was hard for pedestrians to get through and go on their way. This was the first Dollar Day to be held in Lenoir, and the merchants are so well pleased that it will be continued as a semi-annual event It being the first sale of this kind, merchants were a little bit skeptical as to its success. On account of Its being advertised only a few days prior to the day, it was felt that the crowd attending would be small. However, this pi-ov. ' the opposite.. Expressions from n:. 'lants taking part place it as the barest or most successful sales event Unit they ever took part in.