a!)f Stnitljfiilb 21c ra t b.
Price One Dollar Per Year "TRUE TO OURSELVES, OU R COUNTRY AND OUR GOD." Single Copiee Five Cent*
VOL. 28. SMITHFIELD. X. C.. FRIDAY, MAY '21, L909. NO. 13
HOUSE BUILT OF SINGLE TREE.
Inqu'-y Made by President Taft Re
sults in an Interesting Contest
Among Lumbermen cf the Far
West.
The recent hewing of a yellow fir
log at Buckley, measuring 60 Inches
square end 9s feet long, has aroused
considerable comment, but the an
nals of th> lumber lati'istiy of Wash
ington contain even more- remarka
ble incidents, writes a Seattle cor
respondent in the New York Tribune.
When President Taft was in the
Tanama Canal Zone recently his at
tention was called to several huge
spud sticks in the big dredges, and
be asked where it was possible to
obtain such timbers. The identical
timbers were shipped from Belling
ham, Wash., last summer. Each
measured 36 inches by 40 inches and
was over 90 feet long.
The recent challenge of Portland,
Ore., for the biggest timbers sawed
in the world has been answered from
many parts of Washington. Portland
jnills sawed two sticks for Panama
36 inches square and 60 feet 10 in
ches long. Bellingham, Wash., came
forward with a claim for a sawed
epud stick for a dredge measuring
40 inches square and 92 feet long,
and laid further claim to furnishing
lumber 125 feet long.
The prize winner, according to lo
cal millmen, should be a log sent
from here to San Francisco, which
was too big?so big that no mill
could saw it, the trimming having
to be done by hand with axes. The
log measured 34 inches by 54 inches
and was 104 feet long when hewn
into shape. The largest log ever cut
in any mill in the State was 72 in
ches in diamete- at the smallest end.
Near Elma, Wash., the remarkable
feat of erecting a fourteen-room hous<
from the lumber of a single yellow
fir was recently accomplished. There
were nearly 38,000 feet of lumber in
the logs of the tree. Six logs 28
feet long, the largest one 7 feet in
diameter at the smallest end, were
made from the fir. The measurement
of the stump of the tree inside the
bark was exactly 9 feet. The trunk
straight, and for over one hundred
feet not a limb appeared, the total
length of the tree being over three
hundred feet.
Near Snoqualmie Falls a year ago
fi giant tree was blown across a
deep canyon. The huge trunk of the
former monarch of the forest forms
a foot-bridge ten feet wide. The
log has been levelled and teams are
often driven across it by venture
some drivers. A monster cedar meas
uring 66 feet 3 inches around above
the bulge of the root, was blown
down a few weeks ago near South
Send. The cedar was 11 feet in di
ameter, 75 feet above the ground. At
South Bend a great cedar is stand
ing 18 feet in diameter. At Monte
eano is another cedar 14 feet 4 in
ches in diameter. On the Johns riv
er there are groves of cedar trees
that vary from 10 to 24 feet in di
ameter. Very few of them are hol
low.
There is a cedar tree in Snohomish
county owned by the Weyerhaueser
Timber Company, which is declared
to be the largest tree on the conti
nent, exceeding in girth by three in
ches the largest in the famous red
wood forest of California. This ce
dar measures 104 feet 4 inches in
circumference, and it is over 150 feet
to the first limb, which is believed
to be five feet in diameter.
On the west slope of the Cascade
Mountains a giant red fir was recent
ly blown across the tracks of the
Northern Pacific Railroad. Traffic
was blocked by the monster log,
which measured eight feet in diame
ter, There was no saw for miles big
enough to cut the timber, and as the
railroad company could not whit the
five days required to saw out a sec
tion from the log. dynamite was plac
ed in deeply bored holes and the
buge log blown into splinters. It
was easier and cheaper to repair ten
rods of roadbed than to saw through
seven feet of solid fir wood.
The density of the timber of this
State is unequaled in the world. In
Clallam county, according to official
pjcasurement, the timbered area runs
26,000.000 feet to the square mile.
The stand on small areas is even
more dense. One acre recently cruis
ed showed 300,000 feet of standing
tJjnbcr. A Pacific county mill cut
500,000 feet from a little less than
two acres. A forty-acre tract In
Clallam county contains 9.900,000 feet
of standing timber. There are 8,500,
000 feet of fir, 390,000 feet of spruce
and 180,000 feet of hemlock. The
quarter section of which this tract
is a part contains 19,000,000 feet of
fir, 2,790,000 of spruce and 700,uuO of
hemlock.
There are 35,000 square miles of
timber standing in this State. This
would make a plank road three in
ches thick and 500 feet wide twice
around the world.?Philadelphia He
I cord.
HOLD RECORD FOR AGE.
Quartet In a Michigan City Average
Eighty-six Year* Old.
Port Huron, Mich., May 18.?Such
quartets as the one made up of the
Leach brothers, of this city, are ex
ceeding rare. Their combined ages
total 344 years an average of eighty
six years, which is "going some," to
use the vernacular.
Each one has a beard of snowy
whiteness, which gives him a patri
archal appearance, and it is a happy
sight to see the four of them walk
ing together, each with his cane and
wearing a smile that radiates good
nature on all whom he meets^
In spite of their greatly advanced
years, each one having served more
than his allotted time, these brothers
enjoy life to the fullest. Each is
possessed of all his faculties, and,
strangest of all, none of these broth
ers has been ill a day in his life.
They are not active in their advanc
ed years, but all live a retired life,
and they enjoy their existence about
as well as kids in knickerbockers,
they have pulled the wool over the
In addition to the manner in which
eyes of Father Time, every one of
the brothers can brag some on the
weight question. Each one tips the
scales at more than 200 pounds, and
altogether they are about as husky
a quartet for octogenarians as will
be found in a search the world over.
?Ex.
STATE NEWS.
Ben Boykin, who in a drunken
brawl at Neverson several weeks
| ago shot "Bug" Williams?Williams
dying later in Rex Hospital at Ral
eigh?was sentenced to six months
in Jail by Judge Allen at Wilson Su
perior court last week.
Prof. L. C. Brogden, who has been
superintendent of the Kinston graded
school for several years, has been
appointed by Supt. Joyner as In
spector of the Elementary Public
schools of the State. He will be un
der the direction of the State De
partment of Education but his salary
will be paid by the Peabody Fund.
J. Hodge Krider, ex-sheriff of
Rowan county, died suddenly in Salis
bury Friday. He was 52 years old.
Rev. E. A. Yates, D. D., lecturer
in the department of Biblical Litera
ture at Trinity College died suddenly
in Durham last Friday just after eat
ing dinner. Dr. Yates was one of
the oldest Methodist ministers in the
State. He joined the Conference at
Salisbury in 1860. He has filled sev
eral important pastorates and served
as Presiding Elder in the Raleigh,
Durham and Wilmington Districts.
He has been a lecturer in Trinity
College since 1900. He was well
known in Smithfield where he has
preached a number of times.
Andrew Cam gie has given $1,000
toward the purchase of an organ for
the First Baptist church of Salisbury.
The conditions under which the gift
was made, was that the church raise
a thousand dollars. This has been
done and the organ has been ordered.
Mrs. Kiss Now Miss Tooth.
New York, May 15.?Because her
husband was too free with hia kisses
Mrs. Julia Kiss has been granted an
Interlocutory divorce from Mr. Kiss,
and she has been given permission
to resume her maiden name of Julia
Tooth.
The wife said she was very happy
with John Kiss till she found that
iss was spending too much time with
Julia Shipkom. She also testified
that Kiss was an expert In all sorts
of kisses, from the ordinary smack
j to the soul kiss, but she felt that
i he should have been less generous
] with Julia Shipkom, especially when
I he had a Julia Tooth-some Kiss.?
| Exchange.
RING LOST TWENTY YEARS.
Former 6weetheart of Girl Prose
cuted; Exonerated When Found.
*
Jasouville, Ind., May 15.?Twenty
years ago Miss Mollie Lieuhart pro
secuted Elijah Fielding, her sweet
heart. for stealing her ring, and he
was sent to prison protesting his in
nocence.
He returned here and the two,
both of whom have remained single,
have not spoken until today. Early
this morning the ring, for the theft
of which Fielding served a prison
sentence, was found near an old
spring where Miss Lienhart had drop
ped It and she remembered then of
having been at the spring the day
she missed it.
As soon as the ring was found she
went to Fielding and begged his for
giveness, and in answer to invita
tions from her all the neighbors gath
ered at her home tonight and with
Fielding present testified to their
pleasure over his exoneration.
ABOUT EX-PRESIDENTS.
Average Period of Life After Re
tirement Is Twelve Years.
President Roosevelt rtired from
his exalted office while a compara
tively young man. and doubtless looks
forward to a longer lease of life than
has fallen to the lot of a majority of
retiring Presidents. John Adams, the
second President, lived over a quarter
of a century after laying down the
cares -of office, but the average pe
riod of the life of the Presidents
after retirement is only twelve years
and ten months. The list follows:
George Washington lived two years
and nine months after retirement.
John Adams lived twenty-five years
and three months.
Thomas Jefferson lived seventeen
years and three months.
James Madison lived nineteen years
and three months.
James Monroe lived six years and
four months.
John Quincy Adams lived nineteen
years and served in the House of
Representatives.
Andrew Jackson lived eight years
and three months.
Martin Van Buren lived twenty-one
years and four months.
William Henry Harrison died pre
cisely one month after his inaugura
tion, April 4, 1841.
John Tyler lived seventeen years
after his retirement.
James K. Polk lived three months.
Zachary Taylor died in office, six
teen months after his inauguration.
Millard Filmore lived twenty-one
years after his retirement.
Franklin Pierce lived twelve years
and seven months.
James Buchanan lived six years
and eleven months.
Abraham Lincoln died in office.
Andrew Johnson lived six years
and four months after retirement,, and
served a portion of a term in the
United States Senate.
Ulysses S. Grant lived eight years
and four months after retirement.
Rutherford B. Hayes lived eleven
years and eleven months.
James A. Garfield died four months
after his inauguration.
Chester A. Arthur survived one
year and eight months after retire
ment.
Grover Cleveland lived ten years
and seven months.
Benjamin Harrison lived eight
I years.
William McKinley died in office.
Only two of Mr. Roosevelt's prede
cessors returned to public life, John
Quincy Adams dying while a mem
ber of the House of Representatives,
and Andrew Johnson passing away
while United States Senator. -?r.
Roosevelt may also return to Wash
ington as a Senator, but whether he
does or not, the people of the coun
try, regardless of politics or religion,
will wish him a lease of life far be
yond the three score and ten allot
ted to mankind.?Salt Lake Herald.
"So you think that African expe
dition will exert a civilizing Influ
ence?" "Yes. I have been looking
at the map and trying to pronouncc
the names of some of the towns. If
there is anything that Africa needs.
It's spelling reform."?Washington
Star.
Sensible men show their sense by
saying much In few words.?Frank
lin.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS IN BENSON.
The Herald's Correspondent Replies
to an Article in Last Week's
Journal
Iu the Smithfield Journal of last
j week p.ppeared an article entitled
i "The Benson Election" In which it
pretended to state the facts iu regard
to the government of the town of
[ Benson previous to and since the
i Fusion gang were elected in 11)07.
| Quoting from the Journal: "For a
number of years previous to the
municipal election of 1907 the
affairs of that town had been in
the hands of the Democrats." This
is true. Now let us see how the af
fairs of our town were conducted
with J. M. Britt as Mayor, Jas. H.
Rose, J. F. Lee and Preston Wood
all as Commissioners and Jno. W.
Ryals, as Chief of Police. We find
the town out of debt with plenty of
funds in the treasury and at a regu
lar meeting held Tuesday night,
August 14, 1906, there was in the
treasury a balance of $719.85 and
no debt. The commissioners be
ing good business men and seeing
this amount of cash in hand reduced
the rate of taxation from 50 to
33 1-3 cents on the $100.00 valuation
of property and from $1.50 to $1.00
on the poll. This is the strongest
proof of the righteous and economi
cal administration of the officers
of our town and the Democrats of
Benson point with pride to their re
0*f
cord here. ;
The Journal goes on to say "That
the Republicans took control of the
town two years ago and received
from the retiring Democrats |1.14
in cash and an indebtedness of
about $2,500. This statement in
part is not true in as much as the
debt of the town was only about
$2,000.00 and now let us see why
this debt. In October 1906 our town
being entirely without facilities for
fighting fire our progressive board
of Commissioners deeming it very
necessary to provide the means for
this purpose (our town having been
twice swept by flames in about one
year) purchased from the How6 En
gine Co. at a price of $2,300.00, of
which $450.00 was paid cash, one
of the best engines for fighting fire
in the State, leaving a balance of
$1850.00 against the town. The pur
chase of this engine necessitated the
digging of several wells for the en
gine was no good without water, and
for this purpose the Democratic
boar spent a reasonable amount,
leaving the tuwn about $2,000.00 in
debt in May 1907 when the Radi
cals took control.
Again we quote from the Journal
"Realizing that it was absolutely
ncessary to institute some reform the
Commissioners immediately cut their
salaries in half as well as the fees
of the treasurer and began to econo
mise In various other ways." Let
us look at the facts. The Democrat
ic board hired J. W. Ryals to police
the town, collect the taxes, keep up
the bridges and street lamps for
$25.00 per month and he did the
work well. The Fusion board paid
J. W. Raynor $32.00 per month and
the Mayor informs your correspon
dent that the town had to pay other
men to do most of the work on the
streets, and the taxes are yet un- j
collected. The Democratic board palt
W. D. Boon $12 per year as clerk to j
the board. The Fusionists paid N.
T. Ryals $50.00 or an increase of
$38.00 on the salary of the town
clerk. This looks like cutting sala
ries and economising does it not?
Again we q'jnto frofti t'le Journal:
"The first year they materially re
duced he indebtedness of the town."
Let us see if the debt has been re
duced. Immediately after the Repub
licans took charge they raised the
rate of taxation from 33 1-3 to 50
cents on the $100 valuation of pro
perty and from $1.00 to $1.50 on the
poll (characteristic of Republicanism.
Is this all they did? No. They levied
a special tax of $.62 on the $100.00
worth of property and $1.86 on the
poll, and with all this amount of tax
if their treasurer, J. R. Woodall Is
to be believed the debt has not
been reduced a single dollar but is
larger than when they gained con
trol. We are unable to get at the j
exact amount of the indebtednt a as j
their finance committee has refused ;
to make a report, but the retiring
clerk admits that the debt is not less
than from $1,500 to $1,800. IT IS |
kUP TO THEM TO SHOW WHAT J
MAS BERN DONE WITH THE PEO
PLE'S MONEY. The debts of the
town are not paid and the people
have absolutely nothing to show for
their money.
Again we quote "Had it not been
for a number of improvements that
were made the end of the two years
would have found the town out of
debt and a good sum of money in
the treasury." The people of Ben
son would like to be permitted to
see one Improvement made by the
Republican boarcfll With the exception
of digging three wells on the out
skirts of town we see absolutely noth
ing that has been done. Our side
walks and streets are In holes and
gulleys, the bridges are worn out and
some of them a menace to human
life, the drain ditches are full of
mud and the filth stands in pools
endangering the health of our peo
ple. If there is any man who doubts
these facts let him come to Benson
and see for himself.
Again we quote the Journal "That
the extending the limits of the town
and a large majority of those taken
in were uncompromising Democrats
is alone responsible for the change
of the political complexion of the
town. Let us look at the facts. By
this extension 19 voters were taken
in. 11 of whom were Democrats and
8 Republicans. The Democratic ma
jority in the election was 13 for the
Mayor and 30 for the Commissioner
who had the largest majority. So the
statement is untrue upon its face; as
is seen in the result of the election.
What was the cause of the Demo
cratic victory? It was the righteous
indignation of an insulted and out
raged citizenship protesting against
the Incomptency and corruption of
Republicanism.
REPORTER.
Benson, N. C., May 18, 1909.
GLASS ANNOUNCES DEATH.
Three Times It Cracked, and Each
Time a Child Died.
Hospital attendants are not super
stitious. This may be because they
see death in its multiple forms, and
therefore become calloused and skep
tical. An incident at the City Hos
pital yesterday, however, will long
be a subject for conjecture and dis
cussion.
On the desk in the receiving ward
a water glass, stainless and very
heavy, is kept for the use of the em
ployes. To guard against its break
age it is placed in a corner of the
desk where nothing can strike it.
Yesterday afternoon, when there
were no patients in the ward, a sud
den click was heard. Archie Miller,
an attendant, looked at the glass
and noticed a crack about half an
inch long in it, which had not been
there before. Scarcely 10 minutes
elapsed when the telegraph instru
ment announced the death of Louisa
Young in the children's ward,
The coincidence might have been
forgotten had not 20 minutes later
the same click been heard on the
desk, when Miller again looked at
the glass and noticed a second crack
a trifle longer than the first. Again
there was a short interval of silence,
when the ticker spoke once more tell
ing of the death of Edith Williams,
also in the children's ward. By this
time the strange warning became a
subject of comment in the ward.
A third time, however, the omen
was repeated, the glass sprung anoth
er crack, and shortly after, the death
of Joseph Manning, who lived at 424
West Third street, was announced.
"Gee willikins!" shouted Aiiller, turn
ing pale. "Say, I'd like to go across
the street.' And so he did.?Cincinna
ti Enquirer.
EFFECT OF TWO YEARS BITE.
Hydrophia Developed?Victim Young
Lady of 8ixteen Years.
Winston-Salem, N. C., May 1".?
Miss Maud Kimel, sixteen year old
daughter of Daniel Kimel, a prosper
ous Forsyth farmer, was bitten two
years ago by a rabid dog owned by
her brother. Last Friday the girl
began having fits and today the at
tending physician diagnosed it a
case of hydrophobia. Mist. Kimel
snaps, snarls and bites at everything
she passes and it requires two and
three people to control her. Her
death is expected within next few
$?7?.
THE LUMBER LOBBY IS RICH.
At Least $100,000 Raised for Its Us*
?Assessments on Product?Various
Mills in Association Called on for
$1 per Thousand Feet of Daily cut.
Washington, May 12.?It develops
today that the lumber lobby, which
lias been operating with considerable
energy during the present tariff-mak
| ing session of Congress, has been
! supported most lavishly by the turn
S ber manufacturers. An assessment
! was made on each sawmill in the
various associations of $1 tor each
1,000 feet of dally cut. The lumber
manufacturers of the States of Ore
gon and Washington belonging to
one particular association were as
: sessed $28,000, but so far they have
paid only $12,000, and they are being
vigorously pressed to pay the rest.
Some of the advocates of free lum
ber here are declaring that tho fail
ure to pay the assessment is evi
dence that the real pressure for pro
tection on lumber is not so much
from the sawmill people A3 from
the timber syndicates, who own most
of the stumpage.
There Is plenty of money, however,
for the lobby. It is estimated that
$100,000 has been raised to maintain
the special lobby hero to try to
keep the present rates of $2 a thou
sand on rough lumber and the cor
responding high rates on other
grades. This does not include the ex
penses of special delegations sent
hero by lumber organizations in va
rlous States and the expenses of in
dividual lumbermen who have come
here for the purpose of influencing
Congressmen from their own States.
A number of lobbyists have been in
and about the Capitol ever since last
tall. Some weeks ago, while the bill
was before the House, the lobbyist!
gave a series of expensive dinners
at the Willard hotel, to which they
invited members of Congress and oth
ers whom they thought would be in
i fluential.?Zach McGhee, in Colum
bia State.
IRON PUDDLER'S LUCK.
3ays He Has Been Left $30,000 for
Saving a Girl's Life.
Pottestown, Pa., .May 16.?Peter
j flenninger, of Reading, a puddler
helper at the Glasgow Iron Company
Mills, of this place, threw up his
job yesterday, drew his pay, sold
his personal belongings and started
for New York, where he says he
is to receive $30,000 bequeathed to
him by a woman for saving the life
I of her daughter In the Philippines
in 1907.
Renninger first received a letter
from the woman's attorney, but paid
no attention to it. When a telegram
reached him yesterday he told his
fellow-workmen he would puddle iron
no more, as he intended to enjoy
his unexpected fortune.
The Expected Happened.
A northern drummer stayed in At
j lanta a few days ago. He wanted
a bottle of whisky, and he wanted
i it badly. Not being acquainted with
saloon keepers, or, to put it as a
policeman did when he heard this
story, "possessing a vast ignorance
of Georgia in general and Atlanta in
particular,' he sought a negro in the
street, and telling him his wants,
asked the man if he thought he could
supply them. Now this negro was
something of a financier and he
gave the stranger a long talk on how
difficult it was to get whisky In
Georgia, winding up by saying "he
reckoned as how he mought get do
gemman a bottle, but it was mighty
resky work."
Finally a bargain was struck. The
negro was to get $5 and the drum
mer a quart of whisky. The latter
handed the darky a $50 bill, telling
him he could bring the change with
the whisky. The negro told him to
wait where he was and he would re
turn In a few minutes with both.
The expected?though to the drum
mer It was the unexpected?hap.iea
t'd. The drummer waited a.i?1 wait
ed and then waited some mere, but
the negro didn't appear. If his pa
tience had lasted, he would probably
have been still waiting.
Finally he went to a police court
and told his story there. "To think
that this happened In Atlanta!" was
the disgusted comment of a police
man who heard it.?New York Trib
une.