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i JiES
www
Sty? tjtglanJmi lanmimt
Gets 89 Years
Approves Repeal
Arson and Murder
PROGRESSIVE
LIBERAL
INDEPENDENT
VOL. XLVIII, NO. 8
FRANKLIN, N. C, THURSDAY, FEB. 23, W33
$1.50 PER YEAR
mm if mmlm m8m
ROOSEVELT NAMES
2 MEMBERS OF CABINET
President-elect Roosevelt Tuesday
announced two members for his
premier cabinet posts Senator
Hull, of Tennessee, for secretary
of state, and William H. Woodin of
New: York, for ; secretary of
treasury. The " announcement said
they "will go to work , immediately
with ; foreign envoys on the Roose
velt program to bring about a
revival of : world trade and pros
perity. ' ' - --
CONGRESS APPROVES
REPEAL
By vote of 289 b 121 the house
of representatives .on Monday ap
proved the senate resolution, passed
63 to 23 four days previously, pro
posing outright repeal of the 18th
amendment and sent the question
to the states for action in special
conventions. The articles would
. j r 1 t
lroieci ury siaics xrom uquwr smy-
ZANGARA GETS SO YEARS
Guiseppe Zangara, little Italian
gunman who wounded five in a
Miami crowd on February 15 when
he tried to assassinate President
elect Roosevelt, on Monday plead
ed gumy xo aeaaiy assauu in iour
cases and was sentenced to 80
years in prison. He was not tried
for the wounding of Mayor Anton
Cermak, of Chicago, and Mrs.
Joseph Gill and in event either of
them die, Zangara will face a
capital charge. He refused to con
sider a plea of insanity.
CHARGE ARSON AND
MURDER
Murder and arson are charged to
Elisha Chapman, 20, facing trial
this week at Taylorsville. It is
claimed Chapman killed Isaac Wel
born and son and then burned the
house down to conceal the mur
ders. GLASS REFUSES TREASURY!
Senator Carter Glass, of Virginia,
has informed President-elect Roose
velt that otrictount' of hit age and
physical weakness he wilL not-con-
tarvuliin wliirfi' wrao t((trmA Kim in
the new cabinet.
TRIPLE MURDER MYSTERY
A newspaper peddler stumbled on
a triple murder mystery in a New
York speakeasy, Monday. Michael
unttin, ine partenaer, jonn fcgan,
alv-es'caped -convict, and - Dorothy
Kiiuer, auracuvc woman . oi - wie
underworld lay dead, each with a
bullet hole through the right side
of the head. The killings are at
tributed to a racketeer war.
ROOSEVELT CONSIDERS
DEBTS
In renewed conversations with
Sir Ronald Lindsay, English am
bassador, President-elect Roose
velt has this week again approach
ed the solution ofwar debt, cur
rency stabilization, and world eco
nomic problems.
HOOVER URGES ACTION
In a surprise message to congress,-President-Hoover-
on-Monday
urged approval of new bank
ruptcy Jaws, enactment of the
Glass bank bill, ratification of the
St.- Lawrence seaway treaty, the
granting of wider authority in re
lief appropriations to the Recon
struction Finance corporation; re
moval of publicity provisions for
the corporation s loans, disapproval
of the" domestic allotment plan for
farm relief. Congress received the
message with small display of in
terest. $4,126,510 STATE BALANCE
$4,126,510 cash balance on January
31, and a total debt of $182,736,371.
KILLS SELF IN STATION
After calling for some cigars at
a filling station1 at Jackson, L. J.
Bradley, 57, business man, shot
himself through the head with a
pistol which he secured by reach
ing over a showcase.
LEAGUE CONDEMNS JAPAN
The committee of 19 of the
league of nations, last week made
public its report condemning Japan
for military action in Manchuria
Resignation of Japan from the
league is expected 1 to follow, and
a major war is looked for in Jehol
province.
PASS COTTON MEASURE
The senate on Saturday passed
the bill of Senator Smith, of South
Carolina, to provide for a 3,000,000
bale reduction in, the 1933 cotton
3 SHOT M GANG RO
ABMINT
PAPERS FILED
Petition in Railroad Case
Filed with Commerce
Commission
PUBLICNOTICEGIVEN
Two Months or More Ex
pected Before Hearing
Is Called
A formal petition for abandon
ment of the Tallujah Falls Rail
way, operating between . Franklin,
N. C., and Cornelia, Ga., was filed
with the Interstate Commerce com
mission at Washington on Wednes
day, February 15, according to a
public notice received by The Press
Monday from J. F. Gray, receiver
of the line.-" " "-- -
The application for abandonment
is based on a contention "that the
present and future public conven
ience and necessity" no longer war
rant continued operation of the
road.
It is expected to be two months
or more before a hearing will be
held onthe receiver's application
for abandonment and Mr. Gray has
assured the business men of the
territory served by the line that
he will endeavor, to have the hear
ing in Franklin or Clayton so that
the public will have ample oppor
tunity to state its case.
May Employ Counsel
A movement hast been started
looking toward employment of spe
cial counsel to represent the com
munities served by the "T. F." at
the hearing. .
Should - the I. C. C. grant the
abandonment petition, the case will
have to go back - to federal-court
before operation is actually stop
ped.- Judge E. Marvin Underwood
ofjtheUnitedStates3urt:forithe
Northern district " of Georgia so
ordered in granting the receiver
authority" to" file his " petition with
the' commerce commission.
At a conference with representa
tives of the employes of the- "T.
F4-- in Atlanta- Saturday Judge Un-
derwood-gave-them-assuranees-that
no further wage cuts would be
permitted by him as he did not
believe in working men at less than
a living wage.
Several weeks ago Mr. Gray was
reported to have presented to
Judge Underwood a petition signed
by various business men recom
mending that the wage! of het
railroad's employes be further re
duced, but the jurist refused to give
the receiver such authority. The
employes were wrathful, claiming
that they had suffered cuts
amounting to 43 per cent while
the receiver had undergone a. sal
ary . reduction of only eight peT
cent. "
To Visit Asheville
Several Dairies Included
In Day's Program
The vocational agriculture class
of the Franklin high school will
leave from the Franklin courthouse
Saturday morning, February 25, to
spend the day in Asheville. The
class wil be under the leadership
of their instructor,-Mr. - Meacham,
who will take the students through
the Valkyrie Dairy at Enka where
they will see about 100 fine Guern
sey cows, as well as modern and
well equipped dairy barns.
The next place of interest will
be the Biltmore Dairy on the Van
derbilt Estate. This is one of the
outstanding Jersey dairies of the
South, and possesses the only ma
chine in North Carolina which sol
ders a wire around the bottled
milk to hold the cover on.
If time permits the students will
visit the Asheville city market. ,
The cass wil travel by school
bus. There will be about 40 boys
to take the trio. The group will
return to Franklin about 7:30 Sat
urday night. .v ' ..
BASEBALL MEETING CALLED
A baseball meeting will be held
at the courthouse Friday night,
March 10, at 7 :30 o'clock. All
teams expecting to enter this league
must have representatives at this
meeting.
This is the last meeting to be
held before the schedule is made.
Everybody invited. , .
A Masterful Blow
The law-abiding residents of Macon county are
deeply grateful for Sheriff Slagle's sweeping round-up
of the Coweta gang, whose depradations during the
past few months made life and property unsafe.
It is to be regretted that three men were wounded,
one of them fatally, but most of the sympathy is re
served for Fred Cabe, special deputy, whose wound
is a badge of honor.
The sheriff handled the whole case in masterful
fashion. For weeks he had to endure whispered
Criticisms and could not afford to make any answer.
All ;the time he was quietly working, hunting', for
evidence that would stand
what he wanted he acted' so swiftly and effectively
that seven men were arrested and bound over to
superior court in ten days. '
It is action of this sort that will put a stop to the
gang menace. Had a willy-nilly, chicken-livered
bunch of officers gone to Coweta last Thursday after
noon, some of them would not have come home alive
and the des peradoe OheywefeSdealmIwi thWduld
still be apublic menace. The alleged leader, J, R.
Bell, has been outlawed and has a price on his head
that sooner or later will bring him to justice.
It is sincerely hoped that the wheels of justice will
move as expeditiously as the arm of, the law. The
speer with which justice is meted out is equally as
important -as the penalty. Retribution today is fear
ed more than heavier retribution tomorrow.
FARM PROGRAM
BEING ENDORSED
Plan To Aid Laborers and
Landlords Rapidly
Being Practiced
RALEIGH, C, Feb. 22-The
proposed "state-wide program of
farming for destitute families prom-
ises to Drove of - much practical
benefit to Iboth I the worker . and
farm -owners, in the opinion f the
Governor's - Office -of Relief and
State College agricultural extension
leaders, joint sponsors of the plan.
If was pointed ut here today by
Dean 1. U. ichaub ofStatCoF
lege that the program will in no
way add to the already over-crowded
supply of cash crops, thus al
laying fears held by some farmers
that tobacco and cotton would be
forced to even lower price levels.
Dr. Fred W. Morrison, director
of relief, emphasized that his or
ganization will in no way assist
any farmer or tenant farmer to
raise a cash crop. The only ob
jective is to enable them to pro
duce food for their own consump-
tion and feedstuffs for their live
stotkrzThe . plan can :not possibly
cause any further ver-production
oL.cash crops for the simple , reas
on that destitute families who must
rely upon relief funds will not be
assisted Tlo :"gr6wcash""crops,'L Dr.
Morrison said.
It was pointed out by Dean
Schaub that the landlord stands to
profit materially as a result of
the plan because of the fact that
he . may receive free labor from
his tenants in exchange for lend
ing the tenant the use of horse
power and farming implements. It
was also made ' clear that if the
program enables the tenant to be
come permanently self-supporting,
the landlord stands to profit in
the long run because of the fact
that the Federal government will
not continue indefinitely to pro
duce food for people living on the
land. Unless" peopleliving" on the
land therefore become self-sustaining
in so far as food is concerned,
the landlords will be compelled to
shoulder this burden.
There is evidence throughout the
state that the new program is be
ing welcomed by both laborers
and land owners. Reports from
county relief directors and coun
ty farm demonstrators in many
counties indicate that they . are
rapidly putting the plan to work
in their counties.
HOUSE KILLS G. O. P. TARIFF
The lower house of congress on
Mondajtf killed proposals of Re
publican leaders that tariffs on
goods from countries with de
preciated currencies be measurably
increased. Doughton, of North
Carolina, led the fight on the pro
petal.
Against Crime
in court. When he found
ROAD PROJECT
IS
PROGRESSING
Construction is Now Un
der - Way - Near Clay-
Cherokee Line
MURPHY, Feb. 21. -Work is
progressing . rapidly .. on Jiighway
No. 28, between Murphy and the
Clay-county-lins-at-Brasstownpand,
4espit the nusuai-amount-of-raifl,
snow "and xold weatherrvery-iittle
time-has been-lost.
This link is 7.06 miles in length,
and is the last piece of road in
the state," between county scats," to
be. graded Theroad was relocated
last summer, and work of grading
was begun December 5. Two large
gasoline; operated shovels are in
use, one at each end of the pro
ject, removing dirt and rock. The
road is being widened, all danger
ous curves eliminated, and the mile
age is considerably reduced.
On the new road, a five-span
re-enforced deck girder bridge, 235
feet in length, is being erected
across Hiawassee river, near Brass
town.to take the place of the ex
isting bridge. The new bridge is
located approximately 200 feet up
stream from the present bridge,
which eliminates " the " small fcridgc
over-Brasstown Creek, this loca
tion being east-of - the - mouth of
Brasstowrt Creek,
:: The.. HobbsrPeabody-xompanyr. of
Charlotte, has the contract for -the
bridges and culverts. There are 10
reinforced concrete box culverts on
the road, the contract for which
has been sub-let to the C. W.
Buchanan company of Marion.
Twenty-five per cent of this work
has been completed. The Hobbs-
Peabody company is crushing its
own stone at a quarry at Murphy,
the crushing outfit having been
purchased for this purpose.
The shovel locate at the Brass-
town end of the project is owned
and operated by the J. P. Dicus
company, of Waynesville.
MethodistChurcl
Notes
BY REV. O. P. ADER
Church school," 9 :45 o'clock. .
Morning service at 11. Preach
ing . by the Rev. O. J. Jones, of
Bryson City.
A musical program in the even
ing instead of preaching.
The Epworth League will meet
at 6:45.
WEBB PLACED IN JAIL
Harry Webb, about 25, was placed
in the Macon county jail Wednes
day, charged with theft of chickens
belonging to H. M. Luck, of near
Highlands. Mr. Luck operates a
tourist camp on highway No. 28,
which was recently reported as be
ing robbed.
SEAGLE TELLS
OF ROBBERIES
4 Alleged Coweta Gangs
ters Bound To Court
Without Bond
3 OTHERS ALSO HELD
Robert Bell Pleads Guilty
To Robbery of Ritter
Camp Store
Four alleged members of the
Coweta gang were bound over with
out bond to the next term of su-!
perior court on charges of murder
and first degree burglary, both
capital offenses, at a hearing be-!
fore Magistrates George Carpenter
4?.?Murr9ynh.eM"ac6'n
county courthouse Tuesday morn
ing. The courtroom was packed to
capacity for the hearing.
Those bound over were Robert
Bell, E. B. Stamey, Clarence Wood
and Oscar Seagle, all of the Cow
eta section and all charged with
participation in the robbery of
George Dryman, 83-year-old Middle
Creek farmer, on the night of Jan
uary 23. Dryman suffered a gash
about fourincheslong on hlshead
when struck by a piece of timber
and also sustained a broken rib.
He died Sunday, February 12, of
pneumonia, and a coroner's jury
decided that the attack by the
robbers was responsible for his
death.
2 Othr Cae
JackJVinson -was bound - overon
a charge of participating in the
robbery about six weeks ago of
R. M. Luck's tourist camp on the
Highlands road. Seagle also, was
bound over in this case. The war
rant charged storebreaking. .-
In another case, charging store-breaking-inonnectioffwifh
he
tunillt Ait VVIU1VV.IIUII Willi HIV.
rebberyRhe-WHtf rRitter-L
ber company's camp store, four
men were bound over Seagler Rob
ert Bell, Garland Coleand Frank
Carpenter.-7'
r Turns SbaU Witness
Seagle turned-state's witness" in
all of the cases," givin g in detail
the plans for the Dryman robbery
and how they were carried out.
After waiving examination for his
own part, he took the stand and
gave evidence to the effect that
the party going to the Dryman
home included J. R. Bell, whom
he said struck Mr. Dryman on the
head; Robert Bell, whom he said
remained outside in the gang's car;
Clarence Wood, E. B. Stamey and
Mel Holden (now dead.)
Seagle admitted going into the
house with J. R. Bell, Holden; Sta
mey and Wood, two of whom were
wearingasksiltut25aid:-hfT:lx;ff
before the robbery was completed.
It wasthought thatMr, Dryman
had about $2,000 concealed in the
house, ..but the robbers got only
$125 in change and -a pocket knife
which were found in his pants.
"I saw Bell about to strike
"Uncle" George Dryman on the
head with a board," Seagle testi
fied, "and I said, 'Don't kill him.'
Then I ran out of the room into
the yard and abov& the fence."
All the other defendants pleaded
not guilty, except Robert Bell ad
mitted that he took part in the
robbery of the Ritter camp store.
Mit Dryman Testifies
Miss Lilly Dryman, one of 'Mr.
Dryman's three daughters, also
testified at the hearings. She was
in court with one of her sisters
and Jim Dryman, a half-brother of
their father. Both of the women,
aged and bent, showed indications
that they had been through a se
vere ordeal ; but Miss Lilly answer
ed the questions put to her by
the attorneys unfalteringly.
Grover C. Davis, of Waynesville.
former solicitor of this district
represented Stamev, Wood and
Bell. R. D. Sisk Franklin attorn
ey, represented Seagle.
George Patton and R. S. Jones
conducted the prosecution.
PARK LEGAL FEES HEAVY
Followine a legislative charge bv
Senator W. O. Burgin. of David
son, that excessive costs had been
paid in acquiring Great Smokv
Mountain National Park lands. . it
is reported from Asheville tht
$92,619 has been pait in slightly
over four years to attornevs for
title work and litigation In ac
quiring lands in North Carolina.
Clearing Smoke
"Reveals I Dead
7 Under Arrest
Fred Cabe, ' Special Deputy, Wounded in Arm; Mel
Holden and Quince Hodgin also Shot,
Holden Fatally
'JESSE JAMES' GANG BROKEN UP,
BUT J. R. BELL, LEADER, ESCAPES
Bell Outlawed and Reward of $100 Offered For His
Capture; Believed To Be Hiding in
North Georgia
The Coweta" gang," blamed for at least three rob-
death of George Dryman,
One of it's alleged members Mel Holden is dead ;
another Quince Hodgin is in the hospital with a
leg broken by a bullet; yet another J. R; Bell, said
to be the leader is an outlaw at large with a price
on his head ; while seven others believed connected
with the gang are in jail.
Those in jail are Robert
ence Wood, Oscar Seagle
and first degree burglary,
Vinson, Garland Cole and Frank Carpenter charged
with storebreaking.
Breaking up of the band, sometimes called the "Jesse James gang,"
came with startling rapidity after the death February 12 of Mr. Dry
man, 83-year-old Middle Creek farmer, who was badly beaten by rob
bers who entered his home on the night of January 23.
Oscar Seagle was arrested Tues-(
day of last week Sheriff A. B.
Slagle had been quietly working
on the robbery cases for weeks
but-had. been.unable to-getsuf-ficient
evidence to swear-out war'
rants against anyone. Then, about
the -time of Dryman's death, some
. . 1 1 t I 1
arreste At -first he --denied -any
knowledge -of the - Dryman case or
any of the other robberies. Thursday-morning"
he " began "to"lalk'.
Sheriff 'Slagle quickly organized -a
speciaL posse -of deputies-
Posse Surrounds House :
Early in the afternoon the posse,
in two automobiles, went to the
home of J. R. Bell in the Coweta
section about eight miles southwest
of Franklin and two miles west of
Otto, and surrounded the house.
Deputies George Mallonee and John
Dills went up to the house and
found no one there. As they were
leaving a small roadster drove up.
with J. R. Bell at the wheel and
Mel Hoden and Quince Hodgin be
side him. Bell's younger brother,
"Bob," had been arrested a few
hours before.
Mallonee--called to-them-to-stopr
TnfbTriinig " tlicin that they were
under arrest.
Getbuf'oflheway-rinirive
shouting., as - he- put the - car in
second gear and sent it hinging
forward. Mallonee barely jumped
to safety and the! car shot down
the rough mountain road.
On the mountainside above were
Sheriff Slagle, Police Chief R. F.
Henry, Jr., of Franklin, and Fred
Cabe; of Franklin, a special dep
uty. They started running toward
the road to head off the fleeing
car.
Three - Shot
Cabe in the advance, reached a
small embankment above the road
as the car came abreast. In his
own words, his story as told to
The Press,' follows :
"I pulled out my gun and holler4
ed at them to stop. The , next
thing I knew J. R. Bell and maybe
one of. the others started shooting
and 1 felt my arm sting. Luckily,
it was my left arm. Instinctively,
I started firing. One of the boys
tumbled out but the car kept go
ing. Bullets were whistling all
around. Sheriff Slagle tried to
shoot but his gun missfired three
times. I emptied my pistol and
reached for another 1 had, but the
car was too far down the road ,to
do any t;ood.".
Mel H'-len, the first to fall out
of tV" --r, was shot through the
"''Tien. Quince Hodgin got out
if the car. the 'bone of his right
leg shattered by a bullet, about two
hundred vafds further on, just
over a hill.
Pursue Bell
An ambulance was ordered arid
the three wounded men brought to
Angl Brothers' hospital. Sheriff
UP
is" broken up !
Bell, E. B. Stamey, Clar-
all charged with murder
both capital offenses; Jack
Slagle quickly reorganized his
posse, including a group of special
officers who had been left on the
h'ighway, and hastened in pursuit
of J. R. Bell.
The escaped man managed to .
elude the officers by turning off
thejeorgia-iiighwy?;nea-,iiHard-'
and heading toward Highlamis
Later "the ' ocerj 7f(mnd ist faTl
arid his abandoned car. Blood
hounds recruited at Clayton follow
ed his tracks for awhile, but lost
it'at a point where' he crossed the"
rivers ' '
, Persons who saw Bell's car as
i swung from the Coweta road
into the Georgia highway (No. 285)
said he shot his pistol into the
air five times and shouted: "When
I get to Georgia I'm a free man."
Bell was believed to be hiding in
the mountains. in the southern part
of this county or in the northern
section of Rabun county, Georgia,
where he is believed to have con
federates. Bell Outlawed
Friday afternoon Bell was out
lawed in a proclamation signed by
Sheriff Slagle and two justices of
th e-peacFrSanr-Mnrrav ang-Gmrge"
Carpenter .Saturday a reward- of...
$ 1 1 K).. w a s iosl c d Jor. h im, Th e-ou t
law proclamation gives any in--dividual-
th e-right.to.. arrest- him -and
bring him to justice and, if he
should resist arrest, to kill him.
Mel Holden died Sunday morn
ing, his intestines punctured 15
times by two bullets. At an in
quest called by Coroner C. M.
Moore the verdict was:
"That Melvin Holden was shot
by party or parties unknown other
than Fred Cabe, accordingly to evi
dence as given by Dr. Furmati
Angel." '
-Dr. "Angel-testified that he did
not believe Holden's wounds could
have been fired by Cabe, pointing
lout that tho bullets had entered
Holden's left hip and ranged up
ward through the intestines. Hol-
den was - seated in the car," his
right side toward Cabe, on the
bank.
Cabe was shot in the left arm.
The bullet entered below the el
bow and came out. above. He was
painfullv wounded and the bone
was slightly splintered but not
broken in two.. The special dep
uties coat revealed that it . was
miraculous that he had escaped
death. One bullet had gone through
his coat, on the side, barely miss
ing his body, while several other
holes indicated that still other bul
lets had come preciously close.
Cabe was' still in the hospital
Tuesday, but was reported to be
doing nicely; For a while it was
feared that it would be necessary
to amputate Quince Hodgins' leg,
but this was found to be (avoid
able. He is ' still in the hospital,
under guard.
During the next few day9 after
(Continued on page four)