Shr Smitljfidi) Hcrali.
Price"One"Dollar Per Year "TRUE TO OURSELVES, OU R COUNTRY AND OUR GOD." 8lnBle Cople. Flv, C.nU
VOL. 28. SMITHFIELD. N. C.. FRIDAY. APRIL 2ft, 1900. NO.tf
APPOINTMENT TO BE MADE SOON
THE WILD SCRAMBLE THOUGHT
TO BE ABOUT OVER.
Taft Has Made No Public Announ
cement But the Word Has Gone
Forth and the Would-bes Are
Quaking in Their Shoes?Duncan
and White House Again Friendly.
Washington, D. C., April 21.?The
end of the Judgeship fight seems to .
be near at hand. Mr. Taft has not
Bald so, but there is a prevailing im
pression that au appointment will be i
made next week. Candidates for the
Judicial position, and their friends
as well, are under this impression, j
with the result that a grand rush is j
being made to get in a last word at |
the White House.
P. M. Pearsall and Larry Moore j
arrived today to put in a parting!
shot for W. W. Clark of New Bern, i
Thf y have an engagement to go to J
the White House tomorrow. Ex
Judge W. S. O'B. Robinson also has
his eyes White Housward. After de
bating the matter for two days he
has decided to appear before the
President for inspection and meas
urement.
When a well known State Republi
can heard of Judge Robinson's pros
pective visit he made this observa
tion: "I wonder if the Judge is going
to the White House as a Democrat
or as a Republican. The last time I
heard of him in active politics he
was proclaiming the fact that he
would not support the Republican
nominee for the Presidency."
The fact became known today that
Thomas Settle paid two visits to the
White House yesterday. He had a
lengthy interview with Mr. Taft in
the afternoon, and left at night for
the State. Mr. Settle will not get
the judgeship, no Western man will
for that matter, no even Col. J. E.
Alexander. But provision is to be
made for Mr. Settle and the chances
are that he will succeed District At
torney Holton.
The candidates for the judgeship,
who believe that the hour of solu
tion of the contest is almost at hand
are keeping the wires and mails
busy. Letters and telegrams came
here by the hundreds yesterday and
today. Most of them were from Tar
Heel lawyers, presenting the claims
of their favorites.
There was little or no political sig
nificance to the telegrams, many of
which came from Republicans urging
the appointment of a Republican as
judge of the district. The letters fol
lowed a stereotyped form, and came
largely from the anti-organization Re
publican forces.
The transmission of these tele
grams at this time was the result of
a prearranged plan on the part of
leading Republicans here.
They are supposed to voice the in
dignation of Tar Heel Republicans
at the prospect of the appointment
of a Democrat as judge.
Mr. Taft has promised to take no
action until he has the opportunity
of talking with Representative More
head and National Committeeman
Duncan. They will be in Washing
ton the latter part of this or the
early part of next week.
National Committeeman Duncan
who returned to the State tonight,
Beems to have connected with the
White House again. The faot was
observed here by thosr> who saw him
that he seems to be very well pleas
ed with the situation. Some people
gay that -.r. Duncan will yet have
an important say in the naming of
the judge. While he may lose Sea
well, he is not to be ignored, accord
ing to information here.
wnom nas IUU i resiatni iu rninu
for appointment, you ask? No living
man knows, so far as Tar Heels in
Washington can ascertain.
By the process of elimination, Mr.
Taft has dwindled the available ma
terial to a very limited number.
Judge Connor and Frank Fuller are
considered the most likely Demo
crats, while T. T. Hicks or Harry
Skinner are most frequently mention
ed among the Republicans.
Judge George H. Brown has been
the most conspicuous of the candi
dates for several weeks, but his stock
has taken quite a tumble during the
past few days.
The big question at present Is
whether Mr. Taft will name a Dem
ocrat or a Republican. He started off
with the idea of naming a Democrat,
but he has been told that such ac
I
tlon would destroy the Republican
party In the State, and it remains
to be seen what effect these direful
threats will have on Mr. Taft.?Thorn
as J. Pence in News and Observer, j
Because of a Woman's Hat.
In the opera, theatre and other
public places of amusement it is
the universal custom for women to
remove their hats; and if, as it oc
casionally happens, a woman fails to
comply with this custom, she is at
once the mark of criticism and cen
sure by those who are near her,
they estimating that it is but fair
and reasonable that they should
have the opportunity of seeing that
for which they paid to see, no less
than to hear, and she is promptly
asked to remove her hat.
But In the church where people go
to hear the Gospel and where they
very naturally desire to see the speak
er, in the majority of cases they are
obliged during the entire service to
look, not at the minister, but at
the hat of the woman who occupies
the seat in front of them.
It is not so easy a matter to In
duce people to attend church as it
is to get them to attend the theatre;
and now that the fashion of large
hats has evidently come to stay,
many are kept away from church,
and many who do attend have the
service entirely spoiled for them be
cause of their inability to see the
speaker.
The writer has attended a certain
church eleven times and has never
been able to see the pastor during
the delivery of the sermon but twice.
Recently he took it upon himself to
interview a good many people who
attended this church in regard to
the advisability of "Hats off" du
ring the service, and found that the
majority strongly favored the idea;
but there are many who do not, and
who give the following and other
similar reasons for their attitude in
regard to the matter:
"My hair looks like a fright alter I
taking off my hat," said one, "and
I should be thinking about it all
through church." "I don't see why
we should be especially anxious to
watch the minister while he is speak
ing," said another. "It is bad enough
to have to take off one's hat in the
theatre, and I certainly do not in
tend to take it off in the church,"
remarked a third.
Another said, "There is not much
to it. Most of us are so busy look
ing at other people's hats that we
have not much time to look at the
minister," and yet another, "If our
hats are such nuisances why don't
the minister say something about
it, and insist that women take off
their hats?"
Men, as a rule, feel very much
more strongly over the matter than
do the women, and do not hesitate
to express themselves very forcibly
as not caring to go to church in or
I der to look at the back of a wo
man's hat.
The church should have a strong
place in the interests of every com
munity, and for the reason that it
stands for all that is highest and
best in life, there should be nothing
allowed to act as a hindrance to the
attendance; and, without question,
this matter of "Hats on" or "Hats
off" Is of vital interest to all con
cerned.
Because of a little trouble, self
ishness or pride on the part of some
women, the majority of church-goers
should not be deprived of the privi
lege of seeing the minister when he
Is delivering the message. It great
ly adds to the force and weight of
his words, and it Is high time that
the church should awaken to the
need of adjusting this difficulty by
insisting, as Is done in other public
places, that women's hats shall be
removed during the service.?To
Day's Magazine.
Moving Picture Entertainment.
There will be a moving picture
entertainment given at Four Oaks on
Tuesday night, April 27. It will be
under the direction of Rev. A. D.
Wilcox. The pictures shown will
represent scenes in China, showing
the people, their customs and their
houses. Those who want to know
something of one of the oldest coun
tries In the world should avail them
selves of tHs opportunity. Be sure
to attend and you'll not regret It
Admission 25 and 15 cents. Tickets
on sale at The Adams Co.
KANSAS GIANT WINS A BRIDE.
He Stands Seven Feet Six and She
Four Feet ten, and 800 See Them
Wed.
Pottstown, Pa., April 17.?Over 800
people tonight witnessed a unique
nuptia event in the Opera House,
when Oscar Krause, he Kansas gi
ant, seven feet six inches in his
I
stockings, married Miss Annie Brad
ford, of Spring City, who is four
feet ten.
Krause captured his bride by lib-'
eral advertising. He wanted to set-1
tie down on his farm, near Ottawa, j
in the Cyclone State, and Miss Brad- !
ford spied the "ad." Correspon- i
dence was opened up, photographs j
were exchanged, and as it was a
case of "Barkis is willin'," a bar
gain was struck.
Several weeks ago the giant ar
rived in Spring City, and after hiking
around a good deal, had tho satisfac
tion of seeing Miss Bradford, and,
as tonight's sequel proved, neither
one was disappointed in the other.
Squire William Edelman, almost 70
years old, a widower, who last sum
mer won the good opinion of the
women by saying that "the Merry
Widow hats" were the prettiest
things he ever saw them wear, tied
the nuptial knot that joined the gi
ant and the bride.
FOUND STARVING IN WOODS,
Man Lived on Tree Bark In Cheat
Mountains for Several Weeks.
Cumberland, Md., April 17.?Rich
ard Goff, fifty-two years old, em
ployed by the Kingwood Lumber Co.,
was found today starving in a cleft
of rocks along the Cheat River in
Preston county, W. Va., near Trow
bridge Ferry. He left Caddell, W.
Va., in March, and it is supposed he
was rendered unconscious by his
companions and robbed.
For a month Goff ate the bark of
elm and birch trees and secured
drinking water from sugar trees,
which he tapped with a penknife.
Frank Menefee and Frank Stewart,
while walking through the woods,
came upon him. Goff acted like a
wild man and tried to escape. He
had been sleeping on ledges of rock
for a month.
He weighed 195 pounds when in
his normal condition and is now on
ly a shadow as a result of exposure
and starvation. He was fortunately
clo .icd In heavy apparel of a woods
man, which doubtless saved him from
freezing. Goff says he has a sister
in Kansas. He can tell little about
his two companions, with whom he
left Caddell, or how he got to the
secluded spot where he was found.
DOG DIES SAVING FAMILY.
Its Barks Give the Alarm of Fire.
Animal Is Burned to Death.
Jackson, Mich., April 17.?The fam
ily dog saved the lives of Joseph
Sinkbinder, his wife, and their two
children, when their home, three
miles south of the city, was burned.
By persistent barking, the animal
aroused Mr. and Mrs. Sinkbinder,
who found the room where their chil
dren slept, a mass of flames. The
children were rescued, Mrs. Sink
binder being painfully burned in
the effort, but the dog was burned
to death.
I
A Hearty Laugh.
Mr. Jones had recently become the
father of twins. The minister stop
ped him on the street to congratu
late him.
"Well, Jones," he said, "I hear
that the Lord has smiled on you."
"Smiled on me!" repeated Jones.
"He laughed out loud at me!"?Ev
erybody's Magazine.
Tit for Tat.
He?Bah! What is woman? A rag,
a bone and a hank of hair!
She?And man? A Jag, a drone or
[a tank of air!?Chicago Record-Her
| aid.
Longest Telegraph Line In World.
____ *
The longest telegraph line in the
world, above ground, and without a
break, has been completed In Austra
lia. Its total length is something
over C000 miles.?Ex.
HAVE SIX TOES ON EACH FOOT
MEMBERS OF COMMUNITY RE
MARKABLE FOR PECULIARITY.
Freak of Nature In Families Which
Intermarry?Several Traditions
as to How It Originated.
Bangor, Me., April 3.?Ou the lino
between Lincoln and Sagadahoc coun
ties is a settlement of thrifty farm
ing folks who have a peculiarity !
which is but little known outside. It
is not visible, and a stranger might i
go there year In and year out with- I
out ever discovering that they were
any different from ordinary people
in a farming community. They are
peculiar for the number of people
in the settlement who have six toes
on each foot, one more than they re
ally ought to have, and one more
on each foot than they are entitled
10.
The six-toe belt lies partly in the
town of Dresden, in Lincoln county,
and partly on Woolwich, in Sagada
hoc county. Just how many people
there are who have more than their
share of toes in that vicinity would
be hard to say, but there is quite a
number, and the way in which they
came by them is a mystery in the
first place, although there are a num
ber of traditions as to how It happen
ed.
Like many country districts, the
people have been born, brought up,
settled on farms in the vicinity and
married into each other's families
until time has produced a number of
six-toed people in a comparatively
small place.
The settlement is an ordinary
country place, in which Is a store
or two, a postoffice and a garage
hall, which serves as a meeting-place
for all social occasions which are
held in the homes of the people of
the vicinity.
Halter than being a benefit to
them, the extra toe is somewhat of
an affliction in a number of ways,
especially in getting shoes to fit
them, for no shoemaker has yet ven
tured to manufacture a special line
of boots for six-toed people. So
much of a bother has this been to
some of the people that they have
submitted to surgical treatment and
had the offensive sixth member re
moved, that they might wear shoes
much the same as other people.
At a time, several years ago, when
it was all the rage to wear the ex
treme pointed tood shoes, these peo
ple were in a sorry plight. To crowd
six toes into a shoe with a capacity
for three, but in which vain man of
ten crowded five, was too much for
these people. They were fairly os
tracized from being in the fashion
able swim by the freak of nature
which put them out of the running,
tieing people of sound senes, they
submitted to the inevitable and wait
ed until their five-toed brethren had
become crippled by the freak styles,
and then they were in the swim
again with broad-toed shoes.
How it happened that this colony
of six-toed people settled in this
place Is hard to explain. Tradition
has it that some man of several gen
erations ago settled in that vicinity
and, while at work in the woods,
split a toe with an axe, and, instead
of adhering, the two parts separated
f.nd in the course of time as the
generations passed the sixth toe
node its appearance in a more per
fect form. This theory does not find
many ready believers among the peo
ple there, who have given up ac
counting for it.
The sixth toe is an off-shoot from
the little toe of the ordinary foot. It
is pertect in shape, although It is
not always in alignment with the
other five toes of the foot. For this
reason it is troublesome and becomes
more troublesome as the people ad
vance in years.?Washington Herald.
II ?1 ? ,
Boy Drowned Last Sunday.
About two o'clock Sunday after
noon, April 18th, Jennings Thomp
son, the nine year old son of Mr.
Charles E. Thompson, of Pine Level,
?was drowned In a canal In Moccasin
swamp about half a mile from town.
He could not swim. He went to the
place with several other boys and
was the first to undress and get in
to the water.
He?"That's no reason. I heard
you say you didn't like to be kissed."
?Boston Transcript.
TWINS BRING TRAGED ES. |
On Hearing the News the Mother-in
law Falls Dead and the Father
Commits Suicide.
Pittsburg, April 10.?The announce
ment that he was the father of twins
was too much for William Hedinger,
aged 55 years, a farmer living near
Bouquet, Westmoreland county. It
was also too much for Mrs. Hedln
ger's mother, and all because of the
arrival of the twins both Hedinger
and his mother-in-law are dead.
The twins arrived last Tuesday and
Mrs. Martha Smith, the mother of
Mrs. Hedinger was present. She was
extremely happy when the first of
the babies, a bouncing boy, arrived.
When the nurses told her that there
was also a little girl, Mrs. Smith be
came greatly excited. Within an
hour she was dead of heart disease,
brought on by the excitement.
When Mr. Hedinger heard of the
arrival of the twins he, too, became
greatly excited. With a large family
already, he bemoaned the arrival of
two additional members. When he
learned that the news had caused
the death of his mother-in-law, Hed
inger went to the barn and shot him
self, dying instantly.
HE TOOK HIMSELF TO JAIL.
Deputy Sheriff Serves the Papers and
Starts Sentence.
Raleigh, N. C., April 15.?Henry
Edwards, a Richmond county deputy
Sheriff, brought himself to the peni
tentiary today, and, presenting his
commitment, papers to the warden,
began serving a 14-months' sentence
for manslaughter.
In his capacity as deputy sheriff, Ed
wards was sent to arrest a desperate
white man. Edwards called on him
to halt as he started to leave the
house, and when the desperado re
fused Edwards drew his pistol, and,
firing, inflicted a wound which caus
ed his death.
After sentence was Imposed by
the Judge today, Edwards told the
Court that he considered the verdict
unjust, but added he had made it a
rule of his life to obey the law, and
he requested that the commitment
papers be given to him for service
on himself.
No More White Flour.
From the standpoint of the house
wife, the most noticeable effect of
the comparatively recent pure food
legislation is the change in the ap
pearance of flour. It is no longer of
that pure, unsullied whiteness to
which she has been accustomed all
her life. Instead it is to be of a
golden color.
Secretary Wilson, of the United
States Department of Agriculture, has
placed a ban upon the familiar white
flour which is known as bleached
flour, and, therefore, the flour mills
are discontinuing the manufacture of
the white product.
Food specialists, who have been
trying their reforms for a long time,
have at last met with success, it
seems. They claim that the ordinary
white flour is lacking in proper nu
triment, is Indigestible and is injuri
ous to the teeth. In addition to this
it is bleached. Moreover, It Is claim
ed, the golden flour contains the
real wheat kernels which, although
they discolor the flour, afford the
largest amount of nourishment.
The government's pure food expert,
Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, claims, among
a great many other things on this
question, that extensive bleaching of
flour is Indulged In by manufactur
ers in order to make an inferior
flour resemble one of fine grade, and
that, if the bleaching process Is
omitted, a large percentage of the
flour now sold as first class would
be given Its proper rating. This
question has been agitated for a
long time by food specialists, and
the Department of Agriculture has
at last taken the matter into its
own hands and Instituted the re
form ?Washington Herald.
Very Distant.
"Are you related to Barney
O'Brien?" Thomas O'Brien was once
asked.
"Very distantly," replied Thomas.
"I was me mother's first child?
Barney was th' slvlnteenth."?Ev
erybody's Magazine.
A HUNDRED MILLIONS A YEAR.
Interest and Commission Charges
That Must Be Paid to Keep
Brokers' Offices Open.
For all of the exchanges in the
j United States the amount of money
tied U&, in speculation will not aver
age less than $800,000,000. A five
per cent, interest charge against thia
amount costs the patrons of the
brokers the tidy annual sum of $40,
000,000. W'o have already determined
that tho annual expense of maintain
ing the brokerage and commission
houses is $70,000,000 for New York
City and $100,000,000 for the United
States; therefore we find that the
banks increase the load which our
speculative friends must shoulder to
the picturesque total of $140,000,000
?and we have not yet paid our bro
kers a penny of profits.
If the operating expense of the
speculative game in New York City
alone be placed at $70,000,000, it
will be cons ?rvative to Increase the
amount to $100,000,000 for tho entire
United States. Boston has an ac
tive Stock Exchange and more than
two hundred recognized firms. Phila
delphia has as many more. Baltimore
supports seventy-seven stockbrokers.
Chicago has its own Stock Exchange,
but its importance is overshadowed
by the vast transactions in grain on
its famous Board of Trade. LaSalle
Street is the Wall Street of the
metropolis of the Middle West, and
in and about it are the offices of
hundreds of brokers, many of whom
do an enormous speculative business.
Hundreds of millions aro wagered by
by the public on the fluctuations of
wheat and corn, and an unceasing
toll in the form of commissions pours
into the hands of those brokers who
are members of the Board.
There is no escape from the con
clusion, my speculative friend, that
you and your fellows who dabble in
stocks, wheat, corn, cotton, coffee,
and other securities and staples, must
first pay to your brokers a sum not
less than $100,000,000 each year so
that they may keep their offices
open. Who else is to pay it? Deny
that perquisite to them and you will
find their houses closed. You al
ways have paid it, you are now pay
ing it, and you will continue to pay
the costs of the Wall and LaSalle
Street games as long as they con
tinue. The only satisfaction you
have is that your money keeps an
army of probably 80,000 at "work"
in the useless employment of solicit
ing, recording, and executing your
gambling orders.?Frederick Upham
Adams, in the May Everybody's.
ALL ABOUT GRAPEFRUIT.
How and When the Delicacy Was
Introduced to America.
Many persons, says the Nashville
American, now enjoy grapefruit and
appreciate its value as a healthful
fruit who a few years ago did not
know of its existence, and whose
knowledge of it now is limited. For
these this information is not wholly
without interest:
The grapefruit, or shaddock, is a
native of China and was first brought
to the West Indies in 181(*>by aa
Englishman, Captain Shaddock, for
whom the fruit was named; the date
of its first introduction into this
country has not been recorded, but
it was regarded at first as of no
value as a fruit, being regarded more
as a curiosity and used as an orna
ment.
It is of the orange family, but its
bitter taste was objectionable; this
has been modified by cultivation, so
that it has, in recent years, come in
to general use as a valuable dessert
fruit, especially for eating in the
morning. It is now extensively
grown in Florida and California, as
well as in the West Indies and
all tropical countries, being some
what more ten'or than the orange.
It grows on a tree much larger
than the orange, but In much the
same manner as Its sister fruit;
?sometimes singly and at others two
or three fruits in a cluster. The
name grapefruit was, however, not
derived from that, but from the fan
cied resemblance In flavor of tha
fruit to the grape. The fruit is also
known as the pomelo, pumelo and
pompelmos.
Tha power to comfort others doe*
not come from consoling yourself.?
Chicago Tribune.