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SUBSCRIPTION $1.00 A YEAR.
WILSON, N. C, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1911.
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VOL. 17 NO. 114.
LMES
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MYSTERY IN
PASQUOTANK
PROMINENT PLANTER DISAPPEARS
AND FOUL PLAY IS SUSPECTED
-NO CLUE j
THINK HE WAS ROBBED
Elizabeth City, N. C, Feb. 20. The
whereabouts of Ed. Gibbs, the prom
-mhn en nnT7Sitr1oncl V llK- I
menipio"--" ,
appeared Friday morning, is still un-
Known and the mystery deepens. Al-
though Sheriff Reid, with many citi- J
zens searched every piece of road and
woods with bloodhounds between j
Gibb's home and this city but not the
faintest trace has been gained. Case
looks as if it will be a second; Nellie
Cropsey mystery and interest in the
case is almost, as intense. I
Several theories have been ad-1
vanced, but the one most generally
accepted is that Gibbs was attacked
oil the road and killed and his body I
thrown overboard. Pasquotank river
runs parallel with fhe road and this
would have been a matter of only a
few moments. However, there is no
evidence anywhere on the road of I
any struggle. Gibbs was in town
Thursday and was said to have had
a large roll of currency which was
seen by several negroes who bear bad
reputations. When Gibbs started to
town he had' only $5. , Three negroes
were sa'd to have been seen by par
ties jpver : near Drypoint Friday morn
ing before day. Officers are" working
on these clues and something definite
may develop.
Gibes' wife and all those who know
him believe that he is dead.. As far
as can be learned he had absolutely
no reason for fleeing and there is no
evidence indicating that he is separ
ated, from his wife and home on his
own free will. Gibbs was a hard
working farmer who saved up all
earnings and never dissipated. He
was formerly on the water, having
been commander for many years of
the steamer Comet. He left home
Friday morning bettwen 4 and 4:30
o'clock for Elizabeth City, to get a
load of barrels for shipping potatoes
He waked his wife and she gave him
$5. and that is the last any one has
seen of him.
Sheriff Reid will ensase a party to
drag parts of the Pasquotank river,
and it is believed that the body of
the missing man will eventually be
found there. Mrs. Gibbs' grief is
neart-rending and she may not be I
able to survive the great shock and
long suspense.
LOCAL OPTION FAVORED
Bill Passed by Alabama Senate Last
Week.
Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 20. By a
vote of 21 to 12 the Alabama Senate
Friday passed the Parks local option
bill. ' ' -
When Governor O'Neil signs the bill
every prohibition law on the books
will be repealed, and a peculiar situa
tion will arise. There will be no law
prohibiting the sale of liquor on the
statute books, and none allowing it.
The Parks bill does not become effec
tive until bills are passed regulating
the sale of liquor, and no wet or dry
election can be held until these regu
lation statutes are enacted.
3rand Lecturer of Masons in
State Passes Away.
This
Winston-Salem, N. C., Feb. ! 20.
Captain Charles Bahnson. a veteran
of' the Civil War and a' Grand Lectur-
r of the Grand T'Am nf Masons, died
t his home in Mocksville Thursday
night as the, result of a stroke of
Paralysis which occurred in Decern-
ber.
Captain Bahnson was 70 years old
and was well known and prominently,
connected throughout, tho State. :
Awful Tragedy At High Point
High Point, N. C., Feb. 20. Mose
Speaks, a resident of Cloverdale, a
suburb south of this city, committed
Saturday morning what is considered
the most dastardly crime in. the his
tory of High Point. About 5 o'clock
he arose, 'went to the home of his
son-in-law Will Miller, about three
block away, awoke him and told him
that be. Speaks had a letter for Mill
er. While Miller was dressing and
in the . position of putting on his
shoes, Speaks sprang upon him with a
large butcher knife and stabbed him
a number of times, once between the
eighth rib, once on the right hip and
once on the right arm. The first stab
I severed the left half of the lung and
will Tvrohahlv cause his death.
From Miller's home, Speaks went
directly to his own house, enacted the
same, where his wife and one son wera
eating breakfast, sprang up his . wife
an stabbed her three times . in the
right breast, killing her alomst in
stantly. The son, who was in the
room with his mother at the time,
was so completely shocked at the
crime that he made no attempt to
overpower his father, who made good
his escape
Leaving the house, he was heard to
say he was going over to the silk
mill, where one of his daughters was
at work, to kill her. It is said Speaks
went to the silk mill and called for
his daughter, but was not permitted
to see her. By the time the officers
could be notified and get to the scene,
Speaks had made good his escape and
has not yet been located. A thorough
search is being made and no effort
will be left undone, to locate the
criminal.
NEWS ITEMS OF
GENERAL INTEREST
Rome, Feb. 20 Pope Pius is prac
tically well of his attack of influenza,
states his private physician; Dr.
Petacci.
Washington, D. C., Feb. 20 Senator
Lorimer gave notice that, he would ad
dress the Senate, next Wednesday on
the question involved in the charges
of bribery in connection with . his
1 V '
election.
Greenville, S. C, Feb. 20 Saturday
morning at 6 o'clock, when Ed. Fol
ger, assistant postmaster at Easley,
12 miles from here, opened the door
ho the postoffice, a yeggman flashed a
gun upon him. , Mr. Folger retreated
and the man made his escape by the
back door. Nothing was stolen
Concord, N. C, Feb. 20. The South
ern's New: York and New Orleans
limited, No. 38, ran ninto a switch
eneine one mile from the depot here
Saturday night, crushing the pilot of
the locomotive and badly damaging
the switch' engine, but no one was in-
jured
Washington, Feb. 20. Taking ad
valltage of the permission given by
the House rules, Representative Ben
nett of New York has had both of
his resolutions directed toward Cana
dian annexation placed upon the cal
endar of the House, where they will
be reached in regular order.
Grand Rapids, Mich., Feb. 20.
Adelph (Ad) Wolgast, cnampiuu
lightweight pugilist, was quietly mar-
ried here Saturday o Miss Mildred
Ensign, aged 19 years. The ceremony
was performed by Rev. S. C. Strick
land at his home. There were no
witnesses. The bride was a childhood
schoolmate ,of Wolgast. . y
"Bill Nye Day" is next Wednesday,
February 22nd, Washington's 1 birth-
day. The day is to be made memor-
able in. North Carolina by exercises
in the public schools of the State, at
which Bill Nye, his life and; works
will be told of,- so that there may be
known more of this noted humorist,
who made North Carolina his home
I f or sp many years;
ANOTHER
SESSION
CONGRESS WILL HARDLY DISPOSE
OF PENDING LEGISLATION BY
MARCH FOURTH
DEMOCRATS HAVE HOUSE
Washington, Feb. 20. There are
plenty of real . peevish people . in
Washington now. Some of them have
had themselves ' booked for passage
abroad, others want to. return to their
respective homes, but fear of an extra
session hangs over them. Some of
the Republican leaders in the Senate,
who never take extra session talk se
riously until it becomes really seious,
are now admitting that it will be very
difficult to dispose of all busness now
pending. Democrats, on the other
hand, have been heard to declare , the
belief that a Republican President
will never commit himself and his po-
litical welfare to their tender merces.
The Finance Committee will hold
hearings today and Tuesday on the
Canadian reciprocity treaty, andtSena-
tor Simmons, member of the commit
tee, expressed the opinion that per
sons identified with mica and other
interests in the-State would like to
come here .and be heard.
As for the Scott anti-opition bill,
which has stirred cotton mill interests
of the South to open hostility, it is
proposed by one of the Senate lead
ers, that, in the event the bill should
pass the Senate, it would somehow
die in conference. -
Extra session talk was revived at
both ends of the Capitol : Saturday
when Mann, of Illinois, continued his
filibuster against the omnibus . war
claims bill, in which so many North
Carolina people are interested. Some
of these claims have been made by
churches and for North Carolina
alone there is an aggregate of $25,000.
While this parliamentary battle was
raging most; every Southern member
stuck to his seat. Congressman More
head, however, who has returned from
New York, or somewhere, did. some
scouting about town on a patronage
mission. He visited -he White House
again to make some recommendations.
Senator Simmons had a long talk
Saturday with Mr. Page, head of the
good roads bureau of the Department
of Agriculture. The North Carolina
Senator is actively supporting the
Bankhead bill, which appropriates
$200,000 or more for the purpose of
experimenting further in the construc
tion of good roads, especially on free
rural delivery routes. Mr. Page sup
plied, additional data and Mr. Sim
mons expects to address the Senate
on the subject next week, when
friends of the measure are entertain
ing a lively hope of its passage.
Hearing On Question of Additional
Train For Goldsboro. .
Goldsboro, N. C, Feb. 20. The
North Carolina Corporation Commis
sion met here today at 12 o'clock in
the court house to hear the question
of an additional train for Goldsboro,
arriving here in the morning from the-
south. This is the train that has so
long been advocated by the Goldsboro
merchants and by the public living
along the line of the Atlantic Coast
Line between here and Wilmington. -
A girl likes to have proposals, so
she won't have to fib so much about
having them anyhow. .
THE WEATHER
Washington, D. C, Feb. 20. For
North Carolina: Fair and much cold
m
er .tonight, temperature below freez
ing the interior and near freezing
on the coast.. Tuesday fair, colder in
h Vast, nortion. Brisk west and
northwest winds.
LEGISLATIVE
PROCEEDINGS
KENERALf ASSEMBLY TAKES UP
REVENUE BILL-TO INCREASE
CONFEDERATE PENSIONS
MANY NEW BILLS TODAY
v-xfexi, A-cu. .u. j.u iuui
important work of the Legislature be-
i 1
gan' today, when the House resolved
Itself into a committee of the whole
and took up thfe revenue bill, report
ed today by Chairman Doughton, of
the Finance Committee. Much of
the time each day for fully a week
will be necessary to dispose of it.
As usual, amendments are being of
fered by nearly every , member, which
precipitates debate, and slow progress
was made today. Especially was the
debate prolonged over the school and
pension sections. Carr, McGill, Home
and others demanded doubling the
present pension to old soldiers
" Among the important new bills to-
day are:
By McGill:. Authorizing county com
missioners to increase Confederate
pensions.
By Thorne: To provide pay for the
electrocution of condemned convicts
By Boyden: Relating to the increase
of Confederate pensions
. By Boyden : To amend the pension
law of the State with the unanimous
endorsement of the pension commit
tees, which examined it before being
presented. It "-va 3 . placed on the Cal
ondar by unanimous consent. -
By Ivie : Pertaining to the removal
of trust funds from Ihe State.
By Hicks:
To define the divorce
law and to make clear still born chil
dren's status under the present law.
Connor took a prominent part m
the discussion of the revenue bill and
warned against certain propositions
which he said would prove an incen
tive to keep down the assessments pf
property below full' value for taxes.
In the Senate the Boyden State ad-
TVMioti-Qtirm hill pump nr fnr a vntf
on the second reading at two o'clock,
A long debate ensued. . Senator Boy-
den finally, calling the previous ques-
tion and getting what he asked for
today (a half million dollars), Hicks'
amendment to reduce to three hun -
dred thousand being defeated by 25
to 13, a vote of 2 to 1. It passed the
second reading by a vote of 26 to 12,
final reading tomorrow.
LLEWXAM.
Famous Affidavit In Lorimer Case Is
Lost.
'Washington, Feb. 20. The famous
affidavit in the Lorimer case relative
to the deposit of money by State Sen
ator Holstalaw in the Illinois State
Rank of Chicaeo. has been lost. It
was introduced in the Senate by
Senator Cummins while Senator
Bailey was engaged in making his
sneech on the Lorimer case last
Tuesday. '
Mr. Bailey stated in the Senate that
when the document came to him he
handed it to Senator Tillman. That
Senator turned it over to some other
Senator, and it passed into general
circulation witn tne result tnai it
never came back either to Mr. Bailey
. , , m ii 1 l J 1 J SA. I
or Mr. Cummins.
Lewis West's Mother Dies
Broken Heart.
With a
Fayetteville, N. C, Feb. 20. Fannie
West, mother of Lewis West, the no-
torious outlaw and desperado, who is
to be tried at a special term of court among his host of friends that the
March ISth for the murder of Deputy health of Mayor F. M. Wooten has be
Sheriff Mumford,,is dead at her home, come such as to necessitate his going
In the outskirts of this - city of a
broken heart and the shock of her
son's misdeeds. She was an estimable
npirro and hiehlv regarded by her
white friends.
GRIDIRON CLUB DINES.
Famous Newspaper Oraanizatlon
Makes Merry At Banquet.
Washington, Feb. 20. That unique
organization of newspaper men, the
Gridiron Club, entertainend its friends
at dinner Saturday night, and it would
be hard to tell which got the most
fun out of the varied melange of wit
and humor, the sense- and nonsense,
that was poured forth the guests or
the hosts. There were many men of
high degree among the former; men
of stern visage with faces lined with
the burdens of great public charges
and responsibilites ; yet they laughed
like school boys and chuckled and
cnoruea wua mirth at the merry
quips and jests of the scribes that un
failingly played upon the foibles ot
some of their own number or hit off
in a roaring skit some fatal weak
ness in the party policies.
And the hosts had that keen sense
or enjoyment that comes from a
knowledge that one has purveyed suc
cessfully to the utmost demands of
mind and batter and has supplement
ed a repast of the most exquisite
viands with a feast of mingled hu
mor and satire calculated to add in
finite zest to the entertainment.
Gridiron diners differ- from most
other formal affairs of the table in
the fact that a guest does not wade
drearily through a heavy course din
ner clear down to the coffee and
cigars and only then, with brain more
or less dulled, have an opportunity
to listen to floods of oratory. No; at
one of these banquets the fun begins
with the very seating of the guests
and sparkles and crackles through
the dinner, and interrupts courses In
a. fashion calculated to drive a well-
meaning chef to distraction.
Cumberland Wants More Territory.
Fayetteville, N. C, Feb. 20. The
Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce
has taken preliminary steps towards
securing passage through the Legis
lature of an act allowing citizens of
that part of Lumber Bridge township,
Robeson county, not included in the
recently formed Hoke county and all
of Parkton township of Robeson coun-
ty to vote in an election as to whether
they shall become a part of Cumber
land county. It has been brought to
tne attention oi me LnamDer 01 uni
merce tnat peopie oi mese iowUbU.
are heartily in favor of annexation
I - i 1 1 2 j ; o 4- V.
ana passage oi a dui piuymmg iui m
election desired twill be urged by the
Chamber. Its secretary has been in-
1 structed to at once communicate witn
Cumberland's Representative in this
behalf.
Secretary Wilson's Joke.
"I used to know a clergyman," said
Secretary Wilson, of the Department
of Agriculture, recently, " who own
ed a fine farm and ran it on very
economical lines, so that it paid splen
didly. Taking his usual daily stroll
over his rich, broad acres, he saw a
plowman, while the horses rested, sit
ting on the handle of his plow. It oc
curred to the minister that he ;paid
this man ten cents and hour besides
board, and he stopped and said gently
but reproachfully: "James, wouldn't it
be a good plan for you to have a pair
of pruning shears here and be cutting
a few bushes along the - fence while
the horeses are taking their short
rest?" James returned the minister's
serious gaze and in tne same gentle,
yet reproachful voice, he answered
L(0ok nerej sir, wouldn't it be a good
, f 0 t haVft tub' of notatoes
in the pulpit and while they're sing
ing the hymns to peel 'em for the
pot?"
Greenville's Mayor III.
(Greenville Reflector.)
It is the cause of much regret
I tora hospital for treatment. He went
to Baltimore a few days ago for that
J purpose. Every one hopes that his
restoration to health may be speedy
and permanent.
FAST MAIL
IS HELD UP
$700 STOLEN -$65,000 LEFT IN
ANOTHER SAFE-POSSES IN
PURSUIT
FIVE MEN IN THE PARTY
Gainesville, Ga., Feb. 20. Southern
Railway train No. 36, the United
States fast mail, bound from New Or
leans to New York, was held up by
five masked men at White Sulphur
Springs, four miles from here, at 3:15
o'clock Saturday morning. The ex
press oar safe was dynamited and the
contents stolen. First reports said
more than $100,000 was taken, but
Southern Railway officials declare the
amount was $700. None of the pas
sengers were molested.
Nearby was a large safe but this
was not hurt. . It was too big and
strong for the yeggmen to handle and
so they did not make serious attempt
to dynamite it. In this safe was a
sum estimated at $65,000.
, The robbers escaped in an automo
bile and are now thought to be In
Hall county, probably bound for
north Georgia, where pursuit would
be difficult.
The robbers broke down the doors
of the railroad station at White Sul
phur, bound the night agent and set
the signal for the train to stop. As
the locomotive slowed up one of the
men entered the cab and ordered the
- t
engineer to proceed to. Luta, a small
station several miles . away. After a
stop was made members of the gang
entered the express car and while
one held the conductor and express
messenger at the point of a gun, the
others blew open the door of the safe
containing the money. Agent Terrill,
of the Southern Express Company, De
puty United States Marshall Landers,
Detective Haiice of the Southern
Railway, and Deputy Sheriff Little
went with the posse with bloodhounds
in pursuit. Posses returning Satur
day night from the country surround
ing the scene of the hold-up report no
trace of the robbers.- The man hunt
will be taken up again and will be in
charge of detectives of the Southern
Railway, Southern Express Company
and county officials.
Description of the robbers secured
here indicate that one of the men
was rather tall and stoop shouldered
with stubby mustache and apparently
about 40 years old. Another Is de
scribed as looking and acting like a
country man. All the men wore
masks.
Members of the main posse which
started in pursuit of the bandits state
that the bandits . evidently were pre
pared to throw dogs off their scent,
for red pepper, had been washed over
the trail at intervals. -
If a man knew as much about hl3
business as his wife does about their
efrigerator, he'd be a big success.
COTTON MARKET
The New York cotton market open
ed lower today. March, 13.88; May,
14.02; July, 14.05; August, 13.72; Oc
tober, 12.64.
At twelve o'clock the market stood:
March, 13.85; May, 14.00; July, 14.01;
August, 13.70; October, 12.68; Decem
ber, 12.58. . ,.
The market closed: March, 13.86;
May, 14.00; July, 13.99; August, 13.67;
October, 112.65; December, 12.55.
Spots in Wilson, around 13.75.
Receipts at the ports Saturday were
29,444 bales against 29,402 last week
and 11.273 last year. Receipts at New
Orleans 4,078 against 1,946 last year,
and at Houston 1,798 against 2,195
last year.
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