Page Two
The Chapel Hill Weekly
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
126 E. R«w*«mry Telephone 9-1271 or M6l
Published Every Tuesday and Friday
By The Chapel Hill Publishing Company. Int.
Louis Graves Contributing Editor
Jot Jones Managing Editor
Buxy Arthur Associate Editor
Chuck Hauser Associate Editor
Orville Campbell General Manager
O T. Watkins Advertising Director
Fred Dale Circulation Managed
Charlton Campbeli Mechanical Supt
Entered as second-ckuss matter Frbsuarv 2S 1V25 »>
the posloff.ee at Chape. HiL. North Carolina, under
the act of March 3. 18T3
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
In Orange County, Year 14.00
(6 months $2.25; 3 months, 11.50)
Outside of .Orange County by the Year:
State of N. C., Ya., ana S. C. 4.50
Other States and Dial, of Columbia 6.00
Canada, Mexico, South America 7.00
Europe 7.50
Protection Against Embezzlement
Anybody, when he reads the news
of an embezzlement away from home,
wonders if the same thing could haft
pen in his own town, in the bank or
building and loan association in which
he himself has a deposit.
The answer is that in any deposit
receiving establishment a trusted em
ployee in a key position can steal money,
but the stealing cannot continue a long
time and reach a large amount if the
directors and officers and national and
state bank examiners are as watchful
as they should be and if a routine of
checking and balancing and periodical
auditing is regularly and carefully per
formed.
The recent revelation of an em
bezzlement in a building and loan as
sociation in Norfolk, Va., amounting,
according to a bank examiner’s state
ment, to 52,800,000, prompted me to
■question Executive Vice-President W.
|E. Thompson of the Punk of Chapel
■Hill. Executive Vice-President Gordon
IPerrv of the University National Bank,
■Executive Secretary Wescott Sparrow
■of the Orange County Building and
■Loan Association, and Paul W. Wager,
Iwho has served several years as chair-
Imari of the association’s auditing com
mittee. All four expressed astonishment
Ithat the thefts could have piled up
Ito such an amount, or anywhere near
■if? before being detected. When they de
scribed to me the bookkeeping systems
■used in our Chapel Hill institutions, and
■when they told me of the care they
■exercised in selecting their employees,
I and of the frequent examinations by
government authorities, I felt confident
■hat a loss of any considerable amount
lay embezzlement would not be possible
mere.
I As far as the riAk to dejxjsitors is
Boncerned, that has been eliminated,
■or deposits up to SIO,OOO, by the
■government deposit insurance system,
■'his was one of the banking reforms
Bnaeted into law as a result of the
business collapse of 1029.
I A bank or building and loan as
sociation is protected from embezzle-
Bient loss, up to a large amount, by
■he bonding of employees. This is, of
Bourse, a form of insurance, and the
Bremiums on the bonds are a part of
Bperating expense. If the bond of a
Hhieving employee is not enough to
■over his theft, then the institution’s
Beserve has to be used to make up the
Hifference. Jn the Norfolk case the
Hieft was so large that it wiped out
Hte entire reserve and the concern
■ad to be placed in a receivership. But
Ho depositor suffered a loss and the
Hmcern is doing business again.
■ “I can -see how a small building
Hid loan association, with one man
H charge of all the handling of money,
Hight have a large loss if that man
Here dishonest,” said Mr. Thompson,
H>ut I can’t understand how a concern
H large as the one in Norfolk, with
Htween twenty and thirty employees,
Huld have had a loss anywhere near
H large as it had. And I don’t believe
H could have unless the management
been grossly negligent. Nothing
Hte that could happen in our bank,
Hth the checking and balancing we do,
Hid with the state examiners com-
Hg in periodically to look over our
■cords.”
Hj Mr. Perry told me of the double
■sting system- Used at the University
Hational (the daily checking of ledger
Heets against deposit statements),
Hd of the close supervision by him
■f and his assistant cashier. For the
Hnk to have money stolen from it,
Here would have to be at least two
Hihonest employees practicing clever
collusion and. even with this, their
evil scheme couldn’t be pursued long
before being discovered.
At the Orange County Building and
Loan Association Mr. Sparrow said
that he had never read a more amaz
ing story in a newspaper than the
one about the Norfolk emlx*zzlement.
r “l can’t conceive of the thefts going
on for such a long time, and amount
ing to so much, before being discover
ed." he said. "I can see how a dis
honest employee could conceal for a
while the receipt of deposits by re
moving ledger sheets, or making dum
my ledger sheets, falsified so that
shortages would offset stolen deposits,
hut how this could go on for years
without anybody’s noticing it, and how
the thefts could mount up to such a
tremendous sum—l can’t understand
it.’’—L.G.
Our Visitor from Durham, England
Bertram Colgrave of the University
of Durham, England, who is here as
visiting professor of English' in the
spring semester, began last week a se
ries of nine lectures on English history
and literature. The other eight lectures
in the series will be given at the same
hour and place," noon Thursday in the
Bingham hall auditorium, and anybody
who wants to come will be welcome.
The topic for Mr. Colgrave’s first lec
ture was the ancient Cathedral of
Durham. The topic for his second, day
after tomorrow, will be the City and the
University of Durham. The lectures are
illustrated with beautiful colored slides.
The abundant information Mr. Colgrave
gives you is varied with anecdote and
lightened with humor. All in all, a
charming mixture.
In a recent issue of the Weekly 1
wrote of his having remarked to me
upon the great number of American
tourists who had told him of having
seen "your magnificent cathedral from
the railway.” He didn’t know—l told
him a moment later—that I had been
one of these Durham skippers, myself,
last fall. The view from the railway is
indeed a splendid one, but after hearing
Mr. Colgrave, and seeing his pictures,
you become aware that it gives you only
a small fraction of the enjoyment you
would get if you broke your train trip
and stayed a while. 1 am resolved that
if ever 1 cross the Atlantic again
Durham w ill be on my route not for the
fleeting look 1 gave it in October but
for tvfeal visit. Mr. Colgrave lias stung
me with regrets and whetted rny appe
tite at the same time.
The hall was packed for the opening
lecture. Dougald MacMillan, who intro
duced Mr. Colgrave, was standing by
the door when I arrived, at one minute
before noon, and he said: “The only
seats left are on the front row',” and I
said: “You couldn’t suit me better.” I
will try to get there earlier this corning
Thursday, for I fear that, the word
about the quality of the first lecture
having been passed around the campus
and the village, a late comer will not
find an empty seat in the front or any
other row.—L.G.
Six Fives for Twelve Cents
(The Maneto (oast land Times)
Many men live to be 89 years old,
and some hold up in life and gayety
to even older age. Five youths, whose
combined ages come to only 89, went
to prison this week for life for their
part in the slaying of an unemployed
painter in Worcester, Mass. They at
tempted to hold him up, be offered re
sistance and they beat him to death.
They only found 12 cents on his person.
What a grim tragedy in this, our
America, that five lads got* 1 so’ bad
a start in life as to end thus inglori
ously. What great things they might
have accomplished. What service they
might have rendered their fellowmen
in rich and full delightful years that
might have been ahead.
It’s a pity that youth today has so
little to do, that it can fall into idle and
evil ways. The tragedy that has lie
fallen these boys in some way is the
fault of "society. Doomed to hard labor
for the rest their days, facing a
prospect as gloomy as that of the gal
ley slaves of old, chained to their oars,
or bound in dungeons; these lads have
never lived life, they have never seen
the beginning of the great and good
things it has to offer, and can hope
only for merciful death. It is not their
fault, but along the line it is the fault
of their elders and of the habits and ».
customs of the foolish age in which
we live.
We can contemplate their fate and
hope that God will have mercy on us all!
IffWt'hAPEL HILL WEEKLY
Like Moss to a Tree ...
Emery B. Denny, Recorder’s Court Prosecuting Attorney,
Appears Enigmatic About the Ins and Outs of Law Practice
By J. A. C. Dunn
Among all the other kinds of
people with which Chape! Hill
i.« purged to the back teeth the
lawyers are a breed that have
always stood put in our mind as
men whose pasts might well
turn out to be really quite se
verely checkered if one bothered
to look into them..
Oddly enough, every lime one
does manage to pin down a
Chapel Hilt lawyer and wrench
his arm into all sorts of un
comfortable positions into
which the human anatomy was
never meant to slide with ease
and grace (speaking figurative
ly, ypu understand) until the
man does ted the story of his
life, the story usually turns out
to Ik- quite a gentle one, with
• out much excitement, or dash
ing hither-and-yon, or matters
oflifeanddeath, or turm und
drang
A perfect example of this is
the Prosecuting Attorney for
th» Recorder - f our' Emery B.
Denny. We brought Mr Denny
to bay in hi- office over Sloan’s
Drug Stor> last week. He
seemed quite pleased to see the
press, albeit perhap a bit wary
of the printed word, the flowing
pen, the glaring headline. He
settled us in one of those in
imitable lawyers' ieatner chairs,
ensconced himself i,< r md'a clut
tered desk, and ir. cashed a
morsel or two of mall-talk.
“Court just let out,” he said
(this; was a Monday “Starting
at 9 o’clock now certainly does
help get through early." We let
our gaze be arrested by Mr.
Denny’s thin,.arresting face and
administered a mild journalis
tic prod (“Begin ht the begin
ning. Born?") Mr Denny fixed
his sights on the < aroliria The
atre and began running through
his life with quiet precision.
"Born in Gastonia,” he said.
“ Went to school at Davidson
and UNC Law School, (jot fnar
ried in Law School and stayed
right on to work here. I was in
the Business Administration
School as an undergraduate.
Arid the Army in between.”
W hat was; he in the Army ?
"PFC," said Mr Denny de
cisively. “Infantry. ! was in a
rifle company. Handled a ma
chine gun.”
We asked if he disliked it. as
much as most other people dis
liked the infantry n
"I was glad tu get out,” he
replied. y
And then?
"J started working foi Eg
bert ileywood in Durham. Then
we opened the office ovei here
for me to handle.”
And how about the Prosecut-
====—"-- # Like # Impel Hill
Mrs. Lonas Williams handed me a clipping that
sent me running to the Hears, Roebuck catalog for
confirmation. And J got it.
Sure as you’re reading this, Sears Van solve your
transportation and parking problems for about 25
years for only $67.50.
if you need a car for getting around while your
wife needs one for shopping, and yet you feel as if
you cannot afford two automobiles, then hasten to
Sears. Because, the big mail order house now sells
burros.
Order item No. 71 H M 897 SF, and in a few days
you’ll receive by express a live Mexican burro, about
18 months old and 26 to 40 inches tall, weighing ap
proximately 100 pounds. They are shipped uncrated—
yet assembled—FOß someplace in the Far West.
The catalog also says that the animals “may be
ridden or taught to pull a cart. Usually grayish brown
in color, the burro has a soft shaggy coat. . Their
bray is not as loud as a dog’s bark.”
•So there. You can turn the car over to your wife
and sit on your burro.
No worries about whammies clocking you at ex
cess speed. You would be as 1 traveling at a leisurely
pace in my pastel perambulator. Going slowly, of
course, but seeing more.
And parking. No looking for spaces with a burro;
just find a tree and hitch him. Or, hitch her.
The price is only $67.50, with a down payment
of only $13.50. Sears will give you ten months to
pay. Or you might see Bill Thompson or Gordon Perry.
Finish the payments, and you’ve got something
that the Tines and wheelbases and transmission won’t
change, and that will be .just as good 25 years from
now as the day you bought him. Besides, Sears doesn’t
change models every year.
But don’t be surprise'll if future catalogs don’t
reveal that Sears has opened a used jackass depart
ment and soliciting you to trade your old one in on
a new. At fabulously low prices.
♦ * * *
Next I got to rummaging through the catalog
further and found to my disappointment that ham
mocks are gping out of style. In fact, the old fashioned
hammock that swung from tree to tree is no longer
advertised. In its place, is a hammock on a supported
steel frame. Cost nineteen dollars and change.
Could it be that hammocks I knew are fading from
fashion because we have fewer trees to swing them
between? Or, is it because burros are safer to court
upon than hammocks are?
A j
—Photo by Lavergne
EMERY K. DENNY
ing Attorneyship, or -hood, or
whatever it was?
"I’ve been in there three
years now. It's an appointive
position. You apply for the job,
and it pay-*~however meagre it
might be."
Then we hit poor Mr. Denny
with the lulu question: What
makes a man go into law ?
Mi. Denny gave a short laugh’
iwe havi noticed other lawyer s
respond to tin-: question in just,
this way, with a short, rather
amused laugh). "Well, my fa
ther was a lawyer. He’s a Su
preme Court Judge in Raleigh
now. I suppose that has some
thing to do with it.”
We felt sure it did, but what
was there about law that Mr.
Denny found interesting and
satisfying?
"Oh, the variety, I guess,” he
said vaguely. I did very little
criminal practice until this job
in Recorder's Court The variety
of people arid problems involved
Ys what’s interesting. I get as
much variety a- you’ll find in
law It’s the satisfaction of
dealing with people and prob
lem- It’s haol to put your
fingei on. it. Why do you write
for a new spapej 1
We said we’d been countered
with that one before, and we
called Mr. Denny’s bluff be
cause if he insisted we could
answer in quite specific terms.
What, just to get the discussion
down to particulars, was Mr.
Denny's most inter* ting case”
“Can't .-ay,” Mr Denny said.
"I’ve been practicing six yeai -
and no on* case seem.- to stand
out.’’
Oh, come now, w<- scolded
gently. We had in mind a couple
of features we had particularly
enjoyed writing. Mr. Denny
must have had a favorite case?
“I’ve never thought of it be
fore,” explained Mr. Denny, ap
parently beginning to grow a
bit desperate in the face of oiir
persistent grilling. “I have a
field 1 particularly dislike, but
I'm not going to tell you what
it is.’’
We sighed inwardly and be
gan to understand why Mr.
Denny had been kept on as
Prosecuting Attorney; the man
certainly could stick to his posi
tion like moss to a tree. We
tried another tack. What was
his most common type of case?
"Don’t even know that. That’s
the truth.” (We were tempted,
at this point, out of sheer frus
tration, to query, "The whole
truth? Nothing but the truth?
•So help you God? Huh?” but
desisted. I
"Look,” said Mr. Denny, sens
ing that the interview was
floundering somewhat, “you’re
thinking of law practice in
terms of definitely defined
problems like tax and title
examination. But after that
point there’s a lot more and.you
don't run into clearly defined
fields- -in family relations you
get marriage, divorce, non
support, and things like that,
and of course they somewhat
fall into categories, but I never
sit down and say I have a spe
cific problem. Some cases you
do nothing but go right into
court and deny the whole thing,
other cases you spend weeks
and week.- working on one com
plaint. I spent all last night
here working, but for, some
other case the preliminaries
might take ten minutes.
"The most interesting part of
law is the constructive part,
building things. For instance,
questions like Does a person
have a right to do this or that?
For some people law is defend
ing people accused of crime;
for other people the law is quite
different. You can’t put youi
finger on it.”
We relented at last and took
our finger off Mr. Denny, and
left him happily practicing his
tiade among undearly defined
fields. Perhaps he is enigmatic
about the ins and outs of his
profession but we have to admit
that frequently we go to a ses
sion of Recorder’s Court just to
hear him prosecute. As far as
public action in law practice
goes (that is, the courtroom),
and Within the limits of our own
experience, we would call Mr,
Denny Chapel Hill’s Edward
Marshall Hall.
Chapel Hill Chaff
(Continued from page 1)
to be satisfied with what you
ran see by crowding against a
stout fence and gazing over
the top. But when work begins
on a new home jn your neigh
borhood you can walk along
the ditches where the walls
are to be, and later watch the
pouring of the concrete bases,
the laying of brick, the erec
tion of the walls and the roof,
the setting-in of door frames
and window frames, and so on
through do the finish.
The most fascinating part
of the inspection comes at an
early stage. It is trying to
figure out just what every
section of the skeleton struc
ture is meant for. Is this or
that the living room? Or the
kitchen? Or the dining room
or a bedroom or a study?
The puzzle may last through
several visits or it may be
solved soon for you by the
owner’s coming along and giv
ing you a complete guided
tour.
In recent years those of us
who live in the old part of
Chapel Hill have been robbed
of this form of entertainment
because this part of the village
has been built up. To see
homes under construction we
have had to go out to the sub
urbs. I have done this now
and then, and have enjoyed
it, but it is not as satisfying
as being able to stroll from
your home to where you hear
the carpenters tapping their
hammers. I was grateful to
the Oscar Hamiltons and the
Kay Kysers for their additions,
alterations, and renovations,
and now that these have been
finished I have other neighbors
to be beholden to.
What led me to make these
present remarks was my de
sire to say thank you to Mrs.
Lyman Cotten, her sister, Miss
Mary Henderson, and her son,
Lyman, for getting under way
an addition to their home a
little way down Hooper lane
from us. At my only inspec
tion thus far I left a note
saying I would be there again.
I expect to make many happy
visits to the scene in the gentle
spring weather that will be
coming along soon.
iiihiumwiu
On the Toirn
' <* By Chuck Hauser
EVER HEAR OF A GARDENER with a green
thumb ? Sure you have. That’s the fellow who can grow
sunflowers in a shady yard or inspire roses to bloom
on a concrete walk.
Now then, have you heard of a newspaperman
with an inky thumb? Probably not, because that’s
a phrase I just coined for a journalist who cultivates
coincidences and racks up a natural-nose-for-news rep
utation just because he happens to be Johnny-on-the
spot every time something unforeseen occurs.
. "i ou know, like the reporter who was taking a walk
down by the county jail the day the lynch mob broke
in. Or like the photographer who was driving out in
the country to shoot a picture of Farmer Brown’s
•20-pound head of cabbage for the farm page at the
precise time the jet flamed out over the lespediza
patch.
Well, in case you’re wondering what I'm leading
up to, I just want to point out that I couldn’t grow
a pine tree in Carolina or a corn stalk in a bag of
Big fruiter, and when it comes to inky thumbs, I
was behind the door when they got passed out.
Big automobile wreck on the Durham Road?
I hat’s the night I went to Greensboro to take in a con
cert at WC. Town Hall burned to the ground? That’s
.the afternoon I was down at the Med School interview
ing a doctor on the prevalence of ingrown toenails in the
Piedmont. A riot after the basketball game in Woollen
Gym? Oh yes, that was the.evening. I decided to take
it easy in Iront of a IV’ set and watch the contest
from the comfort of an armchair.
If the joke hadn’t been on me, I guess I would
think it was funny as the devil. Because, you see, 1
had taken great pains to prepare for that particular
ball game. 1 had loaded my camera with good fast
film, made sure my passbook was in my pocket, and
was practically on my way to the gym when 1 decided,
on the spur of the moment, to give broadvision a
look-see. So I wound up watching the show over chan
nel 4.
Knowing that it was Wake Forest we were playing,
I guess I should have gone, since the odds - were on
my side that there would have been a disturbance
of some sort or other after the game.
I see by the Thursday morning papers that the
only thing missing from the situation was a statement
by President Tribble.
* * * *
I (.AN HEAR 1 HE CADDIES NOW, down at the
clubhouse in Augusta, complaining about who’s going
to get stuck with the job the next time Ike flies down
for a weekend on the links.
If I were one of the bag-carrying boys, I believe
I’d resign before J’d be caught hoofing 18 holes with
a monstrosity such as the President’s latest gift.
You probably saw a picture of the thing in the news
papers. It s ;t Band-tooled leather golf bag shaped
like the Washington Monument and darned near as
big, from the looks of the photograph. It’s got colored
pictures on the sides depicting the White House and
the American Hag and a few other gaudy views.
The Thing was a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Pies R.
Swan of Flint, Michigan, who reportedly spent 200
hours making it. They could have used their time
more profitably playing scrabble.
Why do people think it is necessary to inflict
such ridiculous gifts on a man just because he hap
pens to be President of the United States? I hope
Ike was warned before he first set eyes on the Thing,
or else Paul Dudley White might have a relapse case
on his hands.
* * * *
AFTER THE SECTION OF THE WEEKLY con
taining my column for last Tuesday had already gone
to press, I tuned in on John Daly’s news program
and saw the film clips made on the University campus
a week or so ago. Which doesn’t prove anything in
particular except maybe I should wait .about a month
tor my subject matter to simmer down before I sit down
at the typewriter.
Where’s Olla Ray?
(Forest City Courier)
We haven’t hear*! much from
Olla Ray Boyd.
In case you don’t know who
Olla Ray is, and he is probably
less famous in this western
section of North Carolina than
down east, we must tell you
that Olla Ray Boyd is a pig
farmer from Pinetown, way
down on the coast, who is
often heard from about this
season of the year—especially
when it’s an election year. He
ran for Governor, we feel sure,
against everybody from Clyde
Hoey to William Um.stead, and
—come to think of it—in 1952
he announced that he would be
a presidential candidate in 1956.
Maybe he’s waiting on a draft
movement from some major
party.
Olla Ray Boyd has found
that by paying the small filing
fee and by traveling around a
bit in his automobile, making
what he gays- are speeches,
he can get thousands of dollars
worth of free publicity in the
press. This, he tells us, helps
the hog business, which furnish
es his something-to-eat every
year, including election years.
But we haven’t heard from
Olla Ray. This may be a bad
sign. Possibly politics is los
ing some of its zest, despite
the fact that at least some of
mu in®
mmm,: hiu
8 7f M ak^flZU C !!„ A , Btto,l E “ H'CKORV smoked
STEAKS— H.AMINC BHISKEBAB—BUFFET EVERY SUNDAY
Tuesday, February 21, 1956
our we send
to Washington— get a lot more
i pay nowadays.
Does the North Carolina po
, iiticai picture no longer appeal
to Olla Ray? If that’s true,
i we think there’s something
i wrong with it.
i
“Step Down, Please”
(Stanley News and Press)
Down at Burgaw in the east
ern part of the state, a man
, was on trial for abducting the
wife of a neighbor. The couple
had gone off to Florida to
gether, she had gotten a di
vorce from her husband, and
then had married the man she
ran off with. It was a pretty
mixed up affair, but there is
no need going further into
the details.
"Why did you run your wife
off from home?” asked the de
fense attorney in a loud voice
and in a belligerent manner
when the former husband was
put on the stand.
“I didn’t run her off from
home” protested the witness.
“I don’t know why a wife will
leave home. But you ought
to know, You’ve had two of
them.”
V
The news story said that
the answer was so unexpected
that the lawyer couldn’t open
his mouth for a full minute.