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31
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THE COMMONWEALTH.
Published Every Thursday
BY
E. E. HlLLIARD, -
Ash by W. Dunn,
- - - Editor.
- Ass't Editor.
JUSTICE MANNING APPOINTED.
fJnttred at the postoffice at Scotland
Neck, N. C, as Second-Class Matter.
Thursday, June 10, 1909.
Publisher's Announcement.
It is a settled point in newspaper ethics that
editors and publishers are not responsible for the
views of correspondents, and the publication of a
communication does not mean that the editor or
publisher endorses the communication. The
Commonwealth adheres to these general prici-ples.
Justice James Smith Man
ning, of Durham, whom Gov
ernor Kitchin appointed to suc
ceed Justice Connor on the Su
preme Court bench, was sworn
into office Saturday, Judge J.
Crawford Biggs, of Durham,
administering the oath. While
many men were recommended
to Governor Kitchin as being
capable to fill this high and re
sponsible position, it was ex
pected by people generally
throughout the State that he
would appoint Justice Man-
i ;i 4.
ning, so ins appointment uiu
not come as a surprise.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS.
It is pleasing to note the signs
of educational progress in the
State. For the past several
weeks reports coming in from
all sections have gone to show
that people generally have
awakened to the fact that in
the education of their children
rests the hope of a still better
and brighter day for them and
their State than even that they
now see. They have aroused
themselves along the lines of
educational development, and
with new and keener interest in
educational affairs have shown,
not only their willingness, but
their eagerness, to be taxed
more in order that more child
ren may be longer and better
taught.
Durincr the past spring the
people, through the many spe
cial school tax elections that
have been held throughout the
State, have declared for higher
taxes, with the result that dur
ing the coming session the
doors of more and better equip
ped schools will be opened to
children who have never had
the opportunity of entering
heretofore.
Education develops ones
mind; the developed mind
makes the more efficient man,
hence it follows that education
increases efficiency. Increased
efficiency applied to the affairs
and pursuits of men increases
their progress and prosperity,
hence it follows that education
makes men, and consequently
the section in which they live,
more prosperous and progress
ive. "Where prosperity and
progress exist,happiness exists,
hence it follows that educated
people, taken as a whole, are
happy people.
This being so what a bright
future can be foretold for our
State as concerns its progress,
prosperity and the happiness of
its people, since the doors of
more and better equipped
schools are opened and children
may enter in and be educated.
What with this educational
progress in the State and the
successful culmination of the
movement that is on foot for a
better system of roads, North
Carolina will have taken a long,
upward stride and untold good
will have been accomplished.
COMMISSIONERS
MEET IN HALIFAX.
Decide to Erect New Court House
Contract Awarded.
OLD COURT BOUSE SOLD FOR S560.
What accomplishments ought
i j. rj
a scnooi marm to put;.
We all know if she is a North
Carolinian she lias innumerable
charms and accomplishments,
but can any one equal this
enumeration by the Montgom
ery Advertiser of an Alabama
school marm: "She can snatch
up a deadly moccasin by the
tail, flourish it around her pret
ty auburn head, crack it like a
whip and snap off its head. She
can kill a dozen of these in one
day, after school, go home and
cook supper, do the family
washing, go to prayer meeting,
and then sit up till midnight
with a young man clerk from
the village store, then get up
in the morning, milk three
cows, cook breakfast, wash the
dishes, sweep up the house, and
go and teach school all day."
News and Observer.
Halifax Court,
The special term of Halifax court
which began Monday, May 31st,with
Judge 0. H. Guion, of New Bern,
presiding, is still in session, and the
cases on the civil docket are being
disposed of.
The case of Clark vs Patasco Guano
Company, in which Claude Kitchin,
E. L. Travis and W. E. Daniel were
counsel for Clark, and Albion Dunn,
Raymond Dunn and Judge Winston,
of Raleigh, for Guano Company, was
compromised Monday, Judge Clark
agreeing to accept $750.00 in satis
faction of all damages that had
arisen.
Among the important cases that
will come up for hearing this week
may be mentioned the following:
The Roanoke Rapids Power Com
pany vs Roanoke Navigation and
Water Power Company, and Rena
Young vs the Fosburg Lumber
Company.
Mystery at Plymouth.
The town of Greenville has
selected as its slogan, from the
numerous slogans that were
suggested, the following: "Our
Greenville; Yours if You
Come!"
News has been received that
Rev. Baylus Cade, once editor
of the Progressive Farmer,
preacher, editor and poet, who
now lives in Boiling Springs,
has invented and patented a
typesetting machine. It is claim
ed that the machine can be
manufactured and sold for $500,
and that it will revolutionize
typesetting and greatly reduce
the expense of publishers.
Senator Simmons, replying
to an inquiry as to whether he
had anything to say about Mr.
Bryan's attack on the seventeen
Democratic Senators who voted
against free lumber, in the
course of his remarks said
"More than once we have had
to repudiate Bryan's teachings
and preachments to save the
party from disaster and ruin."
It looks now as if the preach
ments that others have made
and action they have taken
must now be repudiated,or else
the Democratic party will be in
the embarrassing and inconsis
tent position of having given
sanction to a plank in anothers
platform, not present in its
own, which it opposed in the
campaign.
Rocky Mount, May 30. Residents
of Plymouth and neighboring vicini
ty are puzzled over the finding of an
opened vault about three by two
feet in width and about two feet in
depth on the bank of Roanoke river
about one hundred and fifty yards
from the Atlantic Coast Line station
there. The vault was opened one
night last week and by parties un
known, and the fact of the existence
of such a vault was not known to
the residents there, and as to what
was contained therein is also un
known in that little hamlet. The
opened vault is made of old style
quare English brick, and the vault
is nicely sealed inside and out, and
lias every evidence of having been
built a number of years ago. In the
bottom of the vault it is nicely sealed
by a stone slab therein, and its every
evidence is that there was something
valuable stored therein.
ine position oi tne vault is near
the site of the old custom house of
the government that existed there
before the war between the states
That there is reason for the existence
of an abundance of mystery in the
case is evident, for not only was the
Pamlico Sound and the rivers flow
ing therein the hiding place of that
greatest of all American pirates
Capt. Kidd, or Blue Beard, but it is
thought by all the older residents
there that his treasures are hidden
somewhere on the banks of these
waters.
Plymouth was several times taken
and retaken by the federal and Con
federate forces during the civil war
and it may be that treasures were
secluded there in order that they
might not fall into the enemy
hands. The finding of the opened
vault one morning this week has
caused no limited amount of tal
and conjecturing.
Notice to Comfederate Veterans.
All Confederate Veterans who ex
pect to apply for pensions will please
make their application sometime be
tween now and the first Monday in
July, on which day the Pension Board
meets in Halifax.
All applicants must be examined
before some practicing physician be
fore they can get the application be
fore the Board. Application blanks
may be received from Comrade R,
H. Smith's office.
W. F. BUTTERWORTH,
Commander
Monday, June 7th, the County
Commissioners held their regular
monthly meeting in Halifax. The on
ly important business that came up
for consideration and dispatch was
the question of the erection of a
court house to cost not less than
$40,000.
The Commissioners met at two
o'clock in the afternoon for the con
sideration of this question, several
representative citizens from the dif
ferent sections of the county being
present. Messrs. E. E. Hilliard,
Albion Dunn and Major J. B. Neal,
of Scotland Neck township spoke
against the erection of a magnificent
building to cost so much, without
first submitting the question to the
voters of the county. They said in
substance that the people in their
part of the county and people in
other parts too, if reports were true,
were opposed to the erection of a
$40,000 courthouse. That having
come from under one bond issue they
did not wish to go under another
immediately. That the people, be
cause they pay the taxes and foot
the bills should have a voice in the
matter. That the people were will
ing to be taxed to repair and remod
el the present court house, but did
not think it wise or expedient for
the Commissioners to go ahead and
issue bonds for the erection of a new
one without first submitting the
question to them. That just at this
moment there was so much friction
in the county that it would be un
wise for the Commissioners to take
uch arbitrary action. They further
aid the two gentlemen who ex
pressed themselves upon the matter
that although they were f ull-fledg'
ed Democrats, and such would al
ways remain, at the same time there
were many in the county who were
not so deep-rooted in Democratic
principles that they would fail to re
sent the saddling of a bond issue up
on them without being given a voice
in the matter, and they asked the
Commissioners for these reasons to
submit the question to the voters of
the county.
When these gentlemen had con
eluded their remarks, citizens repre
senting all the other townships in
the county, except those of Butter-
wood and Littleton, addressed the
Commissioners concerning the is
suance of bonds and the erection o
costly court house, and most oi
them protested against it. and asked
the Commissioners to submit the
question to the people. Represent
ing Brinkleyville township was Mr
A. Williams, who said that he had
yet to hear a man who favored the
erection of a new court house; that
the people at this time were not
ready to build such an expensive
building; that taxes were too high.
Mr. W. G. Hedgepeth, of Palmyra
township, said that 99 per cent, of
the people in his community were
opposed to the erection of a $40,000
court house; that the people had been
damaged by heavy rains and were
not able to stand the high taxes that
the erection of the court house would
necessarily bring about; that they
wanted an opportunity to vote on the
measure. That they were not ad
verse to being taxed for repairs.
Mr. Wilson Pittman, of Enfield,
said that the people there were op
posed to the erection of a $40,000
court house as evinced by their peti
tions to the Commissioners asking
them to submit the question to a vote.
Mr. W. T. Eure, of Halifax, said
that he had seen no farmer in that
neighborhood who favored the erec
tion of the court house.
Messrs. Amos Cherry, of Rose-
neath township, and J. B. Smith, of
Faucetts, said that people in their
township did not want a new court
house, but wanted to vote on the
measure.
Mr. A. L. Clark, of Roanoke Ra
pids, said he hadn't heard many ex
press themselves on the matter, but
the few he had heard were opposed
to the erection of a $40,000 court
house.
Mr. Ed Clark, of Weldon, said he
thought people would be better sat
isfied if allowed to vote on the ques
tion of a new court house; that he
thought the present building could
be suitably repaired for $8,000 or
$10,000.
Major Emry, of Weldon, said that
he for one was very much opposed
to saddling a large bond issue upon
the people of the county; that he
was satisfied that as the bill was
drawn that the court house would
cost more than $40,000 before it was
completed. He said that if the Com
missioners did decide to build the
court house they would in all proba
bility keep a large mill out of Roan
oke Rapids,' and the great number
of the cit!sens whom the mill would
bring to the county, from coming.
Messrs. George Green and Walter
Daniel, of Weldon, and E. L. Travis,
of Halifax, explained the position of
the County Commissioners and ad
vocated the erection of the court
house without submitting the ques
tion to the people.
They said in substance that the
Commissioners didn't take the mat
ter up without frequent recommen
dations, recommendations, too, on
the part of people who had a right
to enforce them. That the grand
juries and the judges at the past
several courts had recommended the
erection of a new court house, and
that the Commissioners having these
recommendations under considera
tion had requsted the Representa
tives at the last Legislature to pass
a bill to allow the Commissionera to
bond the county for a new court
house. That acting upon this re-
. -a m
quest, one of the gentlemen, Mr.
Travis, drew up a bill in exact ac
cordance with other bills of like na
ture, and had it passed. They said
that no word of complaint had been
made Until the Commissioners had
gone so far as to enter into a con
tract with an architect. That the
Commissioners didn't think the peo-
had treated them fair, that if there
was so much opposition to the erec
tion of a new court house it ought
to have been criven expression long
I SjfeaMSgna "-r " " -
H (C ip fl
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if
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is so cheap now, and convenient, all ol us
afford to use it. You need a refrigerator; gel
It is the only kind we sell,
we have found that it is the
r .1
d a cream treezer; get tne
can
the ODORLESS.
because
w w
U You need a cream
ago.
They said that the Commissioners
did not look at the question as a poli
tical one, but as a question of doin,
their duty as they saw it. That they
felt that a new court house was
needed, and for that reason, regard
less of other considerations, that it
was their duty to build. That to re
model the old building would simply
be building for the present. That
something was needed and that the
Commissioners should set about to
build a new court house; that no
county in North Carolina deserved
any more than Halifax county. Thev
said that the fact that a great num
ber of people had not appeared be
fore the Commissioners to enter their
protest against the erection of a new
court house was evidence of the fact
that they were willing to leave the
matter to the Commissioners.
At the close of their remarks Mr.
Ashby W. Dunn, in a few words,
presented several petitions to the
Commissioners, signed by many citi
zens in several townships, asking the
Commissioners not to erect a new
$40,000 court house without first
giving them a chance to vote.
After the petitions had been ex
amined, a vote was taken, the re
sult of which showed Messrs. Sted
man and Thorne for submission of
question to people, and Johnson and
Pope against submission. The decid
ing vote was cast by Mr. Harvey,
Chairman of the Board, and a new
court house is to be erected.
The County Commissioners in ses
sion Tuesday awarded the contract
for the erection of the new court
house to the Falls City Construction
Co., Louisville, Ky., said firm agree
ing to erect the building for $39,000.
The old courthouse was sold "for
$560.00, Mr. Paul Garrett, of Nor
folk, buyine the columns for $160.00,
and the contracting firm buying the
court house proper for $400.00.
Palmyra Items.
BEST.
FIVE
MINUTE WONDER, the only kind that we
sell, for we have found that they will do all that
is claimed for them. They take little ice, little
time, little labor, and we sell them for a little price.
qWATER COOLERS We are "overstocked"
and will sell them almost at cost. CJAnd don't
forget that this is the place to buy your SCREEN
DOORS and WINDOWS
Josey Hardware Company
Scotland ncck, Nona uiuu
y The Pioneer Hardware Dealers, -
Death ot Mr. W. T. Whitfield.
(Cor, to The Commonwealth.)
Miss Catherine Staples, of Har
risonburg, Va., who has been the
guest of Miss Sallie Baker since the
Meredith College closed, left today
for a visit in Greenville.
Miss Selvia Guilford, of Rocky
Mount, is visiting her cousin, Miss
Mary Ausbon.
Mr. R. E. Roberson spent several
days in Rocky Mount this week.
Misses Hattie and Blanche Everett
are visiting relatives in Robersonville
and Bethel this week.
W e are glad to see the improve'
ment paint has made on Baker and
Roberson's store.
Mr. J. W. House will make his
usual business visit to Halifax thi
week.
Miss Sallie Baker finished her work
at Meredith College this year, hav
ing taken a certificate in oratory
She intends to pursue the work fur
ther, and to take her bachelor de
gree elsewhere.
Mr. Robert Everett is home from
Warrenton where he has been at
tending the Warrenton High School
Miss Lizzie Johnson is visiting
friends in Scotland Neck at present
Our community sustains a severe
loss in the death of Dr. Dan Lewis,
which occured Sunday morning.May
30th. He was seventy years old and
was by profession a successful phy
sician. He came while a young man
to Martin county from Hertford
county, his birthplace, and married
Miss Ann Williams daughter of
Samuel Williams.
In the Confederate Army he rose
to the rank of Lieutenant in the cal
vary service.
His remains were interred Monday
at the old Colonel Joe Williams
graveyard, Rev. Wm. J. Gordon, of
Williamston, having charge of the
funeral service.
E. E.
Weldon, N. C, June 5. Mr. W.T.
Whitfield, for more than forty years
agent of the Southern Express Com
pany here, died in Richmond Friday
night, aged 91 years.
Mr. Whitfield came to Weldon
when it was known as "Weldon's or
chard." He was the oldest living
Odd Fellow in the United States and
was born on the day that Odd Fel
lowship was first introduced in the
United States. He was a charter
member of Weldon Lodge No. 1, and
after that lodge went down some
rears ago he removed his member
ship to Portsmouth, Va., where he
held it up to the time of his death
He was a Past Master Mason, and
tood high in the order. Several
children and grand-children survive
him. Mrs. J. B. Timberlake, of
Raleigh, and Mrs. T. F. Anderson,
of this town, are his daughters. He
had been three times married, his
last wife surviving him.
Mr. Whitfield was a splendid gen
tleman of the old school, and he will
be sadly missed. He had been
spending the few remaining months
of life in Richmond, the Southern
Express Company having some years
ago relieved him from active service
on full pay.
Mr. Whitfield was a most remark
able man and was active up to a few
months ago. He will be laid to rest
in Cedarwood cemetery here Sunday
with Masonic and Odd Fellows' hon
ors. A delegation is expected from
the Portsmouth lodge.
Honored, esteemed and beloved in
life the people will pay tribute to his
memory and will ever cherish and
hold dear his Christian virtues, his
stainless life and his high and lofty
character which exerted an influence
for good wherever he was known.
LINN'S
LUNCH ROOM
AND RESTAURANT
Nos. HI, 18. 20, Grnnhy St. Q
Prompt Service !
Popular Prices! t
The Place That's Different
$ NORFOLK, VA. A
TO
A.
Memphis, Term, a
Return
VIA
ATLANTIC COAST
DeWITT'S CARBGLiZED WITCH HAZEL
SALVE For Piles, Burns, Seres.
ACCOUNT REUNION
ate Veteran.?, Juii.
Tickets on sale June otij.'.'!:
final limit June 14th.
By deposit of ticket win
Agent at Memphis not t ;. "
June 9th and not later
11th, and payment of fu- ;
at time 5f deposit, ext .:
may be secured to lorn v
not later than July 1st.
For further kifornrit
Ticket Agent or write
W. .1. O
Passenger TraHW
T. C. W
CeneriJ Pa.- r,, . -Wilmington,
N. C.
It is a pleasure to call attention to
the advertisement of the North Car
olina College of Agriculture and Me
chanic Arts. The State greatly needs
industrially trained men, and the col
lege is rapidly helping to supply this
need. Its graduates are busy and
successtui m many lines. Many of
our farms show the practical value
of their training. The milrnnrls
public highways, drawing rooms and
shipbuilding plants call on the Col
lege for Civil Engineers. Our light
ing and water plants and our ma
chine shops are beingd manned
by its graduates. Not a few
of its men are superintending or
managing cotton mills and dyehous
es. Its chemists are taking high
rank in experiment stations, indus
trial plants and departments of agri
culture. Young men cannot do bet
ter than fit themselves for their vo
cations at the same time that thev
are being educated.
savi:
Work, Worry,
Money?
BY USING A
STOVER
Gasoline Engine,
MADE R!M!T!
SOLD WW! I!
SEND FOR ILLUSTRATED CATALOCJ I'M I ! - J
Stover Engine Works,
25 River Street, FREEPORT. k:
JiTryi'- f 1 -ii,, mm 1
2")o-o-o-o-o-c ooooo-oo oo
Buggies
9 O
3 11
i ijyciK
Ae can build you a luv and thm -you
a, Iianirss, hotli of wliu-li will -IJivorably
with anything vo ,.im Imp- '-!
where, and perhaps at a smaller nrin'-. W
also build Hio-h (Irade Carls and W w
and do all kinds ol repairing. II will " i
your advantage to see us before von buv
new Harness, Uny, Cart, Wa-on, ... I.
any repairing or horse-shoein- done
ay consumption can be
5ur?L. Nature alone won't
w h, n needs help.
7
" - -"unuea in sum
mer as well as winter.
T.k it In. little cold milk or water
Get a small bottle . . .
MU ui hi ""wmii
W. A. BRANTLEY, Scotland Neck,
v. C
I'
P000. oooooooo c ox-:
I HUX'S KITCIIK
Next Door to S. A. L. Ticket Office, Weldon. N.
t OYSTERS! SJS'e?vnShorIJ Notico' A"y stvl- OYT
t Lunches A FW r 50c- Hot ami Col1 UIu?
x.uncnes. a nst-Class Dming Room for Ladies and i
I LadV Clerks Attendance. Good Meals al All
Honrs j
1
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