?!)c smitljfirlii Me f al1\
Price One Dollar Per Year "TRUE TO OURSELVES, OUR COUNTRY AND OUR OOD." Single c.plee PI.. Cent.
VOL.28. SMITHFIELD. N. C.. FRIDAY. JUNE 18.1900. NO. 10
\ %
BOY SLAYS HIS OWN FATHER.
H. F. Crawford Was Beating His
Wife When Herman, the 14-Year
Old Son, Came Up and Struck
Him With an Axe. Boy in Smith
field Jail.
Early last Monday morning Mr.
H. F. Crawford, of Beulah township,
was killed by his fourteen year old j
eon, Herman. He was forty eight j
years old and moved from Wayne [
county near Pikeville eight years I
ago. He bought a good farm near
Little river in the neighborhood of
Mr. J. S. Starling and the Eli God
win place and had paid for it. The
story as told by the boy Herman was
as follows:
Monday morning a brother of Her
man, who is two years younger,
came down stairs from where the
boys slept, ahead of Herman. When
Herman came down Mr. Crawford
began cursing the boys for not com
ing sooner and asked Herman why
he let his brother beat him getting
up. The mother took the part of
the boys and asked her husband to
quit cursing. He then caught her
by the head but she got loos, from
him and rushed into the porch. Here [
he caught her again by the head and J
hair and dragged her out into the
yard bruising her arms on the steps
as she went across them. In the
yard he stood over her beating and
choking her until she called to her
son for help. Mr. Crawford stated
that he would be "cock of the walk"
If he had to kill somebody to con
trol things. About this time Herman
caught up an axe and struck his
father on the back of . his head and
killed him.
Pr. Robert Nooie, of Selma, was
appointed special coroner for the
case by Mr. W. S. Stevens. He with
a Jury held an inquest with the re
sult that the boy was brought to
Smithfield jail. The axe with which
the killing was done is here in keep
ing of the Sheriff and on it can be j
seen blood and gray hairs from the j
head of Mr. Crawford. He had one [
son and one daughter married. The J
Affair is a very sad one. It is not
claimed that he was drinking.
Up to Date Roller Mill at Smithfield.
The Roller Mill at Smi -,'kld has
been operating under its aew man
agement very successfully since Feb
ruary 1. It will be remembered that
the Neusse Milling Company was or
ganized two or three years ago with
a large number of parties throughout
Johnston county as its stockholders.
The high ideal of the president and
directors was attained when they
equipped the plant with the latest
improved machinery. Who also em
ployed skilled workmen and an ef
ficient miller and manager to install
this machinery, that nothing would
be lacking to make the mill turn out
a3 good product as could be manufact
ured anywhere. The mill when com
pleted proved a perf.*?t uiccess and
its product was unsurpassed, but the
cost was phenominal, largely surpass
ing the expectations of the stock
holders. An enormous debt was found
hanging over it and no funds in
Sight to meet the obligations already
contracted, hence nothing could be
done toward maintaining and operat
ing the plant. The stockholders were
called time and time again with the
view to effecting plans by which the
debt could be pr.id and the valuable
mill set to work. It seemed howev
er, that sufficient funds could not be
raised to clear the debt and operate
the plant. It therefore became nec
essary (which was the last resort)
to throw the mill into the hands of
a receiver. The plant was sold by
the receiver, the highest bidder being
the present management, the "Smith
field Roller Mill Co." This corpora
tion readily financed the plant and
has been milling a fine family flour
since. This flour has been sold far
and wide throughout Johnston and
other counties and is growing in pop
ularity. The mill being fitted with
the latest improved machinery is
equipped to turn out a patent flour
as pretty as can be found anywhere,
but in manufacturing this patent
flour It is necessary to produce al
so about twenty five per cent dark
flour which is not salable. This will
also take away the healthful portion
of the flour that is needed to supply
the proper nourishment to th? hu
man system. The most popular flour
has proven to be that which is not
quite so white but contalna every
element conducive to health. This
Is the grade that the Smithfield Holl
er Mill is manufacturing.
The public is invited to visit the
mill and see for themselves the mod
ern system of manufacturing fine
flour. The wheat is thoroughly clean
ed and screened before reaching the
rollers which convinces the visitor
that nothing but pure clean wheat
enters into the flour. The mill is
offering the highest market price for
wheat. It will also mill wheat into
this excellent flour for toll or ex
change for other products, anyway to
accommodate. Fine mill stones have
been also fitted. Fine meal will be
ground on toll as done by other mills.
This mill offers an opportunity to the
planters of Johnston and adjoining
counties that they have not had here
tofore. They can raise their own
wheat, have it milled into fine flour
right at home and thus save the high
freight rates paid on getting their
wheat to market as well as paying
the high freight rates on flour ship
ped to them from other points.
MUST BE EXAMINED TO WfcD.
New Law In The State of Washing
ton Effective.
Seattle. Wash., June 11.?The new
State law providing that applicants
for marriage licenses must undergo
medical examination, except where
the woman is 45 years old, went into j
effect yesterday.
Ten couples appeared at the licen
se olerk's office with physicians' cer
tificates, and two couples, when in
formed of the new law, said they
would go to British Columbia to mar
ry.
County officials declare the law
will result in many Americans marry
ing in Canada.
Christian Duty to Kiss the Minister,
He to Wash Her Feet.
Asserting that his wife belonged
to a certain Wilmington church, one
of the rules of which is that the fe
male members of the congregation
must kiss the minister whenever
they meet him and allow him to wash
their feet, a negro man appeared at
Justice Borneman's office yesterday
morning and asked him if he could
do anything to aid him in redeeming
his better-half.
The justice sent for the woman and
she obeyed the summons and upon
entering the magistrate's office in
quired what he wanted of her. The
justice related the story told him by i
the husband. The woman declared
that her husband was right in his
statement and that she not only kiss
ed the preacher whenever she got
an opportunity and allowed him to
wash her feet, but expected to keep
it up, her husband's objections to
the contrary notwithstanding. With
that statement and with a defiant
air she left the office.?Wilmington {
Star.
GETS HIS A. B. AT FOURTEEN.
Norbel Weiner Is Graduated From
Tufts With Cum Laude.
Boston, June 16.?Norbel Weiner,
of Medford, was graduated from1 Tuft!
College today with the degree of A.
B., cum laude. Were it not for the
fact that Weiner is only a boy four
teen years old and that he took the
regular four-year course in three,
there would be nothing startling in
the announcement. He is undoubted
ly the boy prodigy of the country.
He could repeat the alphabet at
the age of eleven months, could read
and write at three, and at the age
of eight was fitted for college in
mathematics, philosophy, modern lan
guages, and the sciences.
When Weiner entered Tufts in the
autumn of 1906 he had gone further
in chemistry and philosophy than the
average senior. He was required to
take several entrance, examinations,
mathematics among them, in which
he was found to be far in advance !
of the freshman class. So, as a fresh
man, he did upper class work In the
theory of equations and in determi
nants, while in philosophy it was
found necessary to place him in a
class by himself.
In the autumn h will eenter the
Harvard graduate school, where he
will elect work in higher mathemat
ics. The boy is a son of Prof. Leo
Weiner, of Harvard.
311 GOOD goods, quick delivery.
SNAKE IN BEER KILLS EIGHT.
Bridge Inspector Tells Remarkable
Story of Deaths of Chesapeake
and Ohio Laborers.
Richmond, Va., June 13.?Joseph M.
Staten, bridge inspector for the Ches
apeake and Ohio Railway, who has
just returned from an inspection tour
of the line In the State of West Vir
ginia, tells of the remarkable death
of eight laborers on the Piney Creek
branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio,
uear the town of Raleigh, following
a night of revelry, in which a bar
rel of beer played a prominent part.
According to Staten. the men pur
chased a full barrel of the beer, set
it up in their shack in the mountains,
and proceeded to drink it. Later the
entire eight were discovered lying
about on the beds and on tl^e floor,
dead.
The barrel was taken into the yard
and the beer allowed to escape. A
large rattlesnake was found on the
bottom of the barrel after all the
beer had been drawn off.
It is presumed that the snake, in
his death agony, injected enough of
his poison into the beer to kill the
men who drank it.
Crop Outlook is Poor.
Wilson, N. C., June 16.?Many of
the big farmers (and the little ones,
too) of Wilson county are despondent
over the prospects of their crops.
Owing to the continued rain cotton
and tobacco is very much damaged,
and in some sections the tobacco
crops have been abandoned. On light
lands the fertilizers have been wash
ed away and the weed has turned
almost as yellow as saffron. Corn
is not so much damaged in Wilson
county, but a gentelman who came
from New Bern yesterday says that
it is lying low in the fields along
the route of the Norfolk and South
ern road. The outlook is gloomy in
deed?the farmers having genuine
cases of the blues.?News and Obser
ver.
Many Earthquake Victims in France.
From 75 to 100 dead and 100 in
jured is tonight's estimated total cas
ualties as the result of the earth
quake which devastated several towns
and villages in the southernmost
part of France, particularly in the
departments of Herault and Bouches
Du-Rhone.
Great suffering is reported from
the remoter places, owing to a lack
of oread and the necessaries of life
before the arrival of assistance. The
casualties may be greatly increased,
as the ruins have not yet been en
tirely searched. According to ad
vices received here a number of the
wounded are still imprisoned in the
ruins and soldiers are working des
perately to rescue them.
Survivors are sleeping in tents,
and the streets are impassable. In
many places they have been torn up
and are encumbered with masses of
rocks. Houses, public buildings
and churches were crumbled.?Mar
seilles Dispatch, 12th.
THE CHICKENS WERE COSTLY.
New Yorker Senjenced to Life Term
and Ten Years for Theft.
New York, June 12.?Charles H.
Chaffee is in the Onandaga County
jail tonight waiting to be taken to
Auburn prison to serve a life term ,
and ten years more for the theft of
$17 worth of chickens. Judge Ross. j
in the County Court, today sentenced
him to hard labor in the Auburn pris
on for the rest of his natural life.
Judge Ross had no alternative in
imposing the life sentence, as the law
makes that imperative in the case
of a fourth conviction of an offen- J
der. While Chaffee might, after serv
ing a part of his term under the law, j
ask for his liberty from tie board of
pardons, the fact that he has half of
a twenty-year term unserved will bar
him that priviUK*-.
As it stands now. he must serve
his life and ten years more.
Quiet has been restored at Mead- j
ville. Miss., where two men were kill
ed and three seriously injured in a
street glit.
Walking In fronl of a steam roller
at Chicago to warn pedestrians, Peter
Zuaino fell and was crushed to death
Tuesday.
! FELL 3,500 FEET AND LIVES.
Aviator Drops With Aeroplane Turn
ing Somersaults.
Berwyn, Neb., June 15.?A local
inventor dropped 3,500 feet in a crip
pled aeroplaue h<jre today.
The amateur aviator was U. Soren- j
?on, a blacksmith, who in view of
several hundred townsmen made the
1 ascent in a balloon and then attempt
; ed a descent in an aeroplane that he
\ had constructed after several months
of labor.
When he cut the aeroplane loose
he found the rudder had worked loose
and he was unable to guide the ma
chine. It began to descend at a
terrific speed, turning over and over
as it dropped. The inventor clung |
to the craft and when it struck the
ground he was in a sitting posture.
The aeroplane was demolished, but
Sorenson, although knocked senseless
and sustaining numerous' bruises, wan
soon revived, not seriously worse off
for his experience.
I
Th? Book Noah Wpot*.
Many great and wonderful gifts !
have been bestowed upon the world, J
and though men use these things con-1
stantly, rely upon them, place impllc- j
It confidence In them, turning to
them constantly as to a tried and
faithful friend, they frequently do
not know the names of the man or [
woman whose life work they have se- '
renely appropriated as their own.
This is singularly true of Noah |
Webster and his dictionary. We all
have the fat old book in our homes;
we all consult It; we regard it as |
the ultimatum where words are con- j
cerned, yet few there are among us
who even know the author's name, |
and if called upon suddenly, would :
very likely give the answer a bright
little woman made not long ago.
"The dictionary man? Why, of
course, 1 know all about him! He \
was Daniel Webster, the great states- !
n-an1"
Well, Daniel Webster didn't write |
the Dictionary. Noah Webster did,
though, and so well did he do his
work that the old book is regarded
today as first aid to the ignorant,
even if over half a century has gone
by since the date of the publication.
It was in Hartford, Connecticut,
that Noah Webster was born, on Oc
tober 10, 1758. His father was a
man who stood well among his neigh
bors. He was a farmer, and justice
of the peace, and claimed descent
from John Webster, who was one of j
the first settlers of Hartford. He had
evidently been what the Scotch call j
a "man o' parts," for it seems that <
he was a member of the Colonial!
Council from its formation, and later
on he was Governor of Connecticut.
The mother of Noah was a descend
ant of that sturdy William Bradfard,
who was the second Governor of j
Plymouth Colony.
(joming rroin such ancestry, it Is
not to be wondered that the small |
boy Noah was about as determined
a little chap as could be found any
where around and about. Fortunate- J
ly for him and for all who knew him, I
he was usually determined about mat-<
ters that were decidedly worth while.
Among other things that ho announc-1
ed he wanted and meant to have was I
an education. At the present day
that would be a thing easily obtain
ed. But in the time of Noah Web
ster it was very hard to get either
good books or good instructions.
His mother taught the boy, and
the father taught him, and he wai
sent to the village school. And as
he studied at all sorts of times and
places, and read everything he could
find, by the time he was sixteen he
was ready to enter Vale.
The big-eyed boy started to col
lege in 1774 with hopea so high they
were limitless, and ambitions that
words could not adequately express.
And all of these things were doomed
to bitter disappointment.
War was in the very air then, and
two years later Noah's days at col
lege came to .in abrupt end, for war
had become a terrible reality.
All New England was thrown into
confusion when General Burgoyne
came a-marchlng down from Canada.
Noah Webster was but a lad of
nineteen at that time, but he prompt
ly offered his services to his country.
By a right strange coincidence, he
was placed in the company of which
his father was captain, and the stur
dy old ofi'lcer marched Into battle at
Saratoga with every son he had
marching at his heels! They did not
stay at his heels, though, (or in that
terrible struggle on each side of
Captain Webster stood one of his
own boys, fighting shoulder to shoul
der with him.
When the war at last ended, the
country was so ruined, the people so
Impoverished, that it seemed a wild
and impossible dream to even hope
that prosperity could ever come
again.
The Websters shared the fate of
every one else around them. They
were utterly penniless, their home a
wreck, and they had neither servants
nor horses with which to work the
devastated farm.
"This is all 1 have, my son. Take
it, and begin life for yourself," Cap
tain Webster said to Noah, soon af
ter their return home. At the same
moment he gave the young man four
dollars.
It seems very little at first?just
four dollars?but when a youth has
a sound body, and a sound mind and
soul in that same body, he is not to
be counted poor, even if his pockets
are empty. Noah Webster had a
good education, and he also had an
other good thing?he knew how
to make use of what he possessed*
He at once opened a small school,
studying law at all spare moments.
He never lost a minute, and at the
end of two years, when he presented
himself for examination, the lawyers
who questioned him complimented
him highly on h.s ability, and all u
nlted in proph^tying a brilliant fu
ture for him.
For the next few years Noah Web
ster found the question of living a
very vital one. To know law is one
thing; to earn bread and butter by
the practical application of this
knowledge is quite another matter.
After trying in vain to earn a liv
ing with his profession, Mr. Webster
gave up in despair, and opened a
school. And it was then that he be
gan what proved to be bis great life
work, proving that often what seems
a hindrance to us and a failure, in
the end may lead to wonderful sue- I
cess. He had felt deeply the need
of good text books in his own youth, j
and he now determined to write some
himself.
The first book he compiled had the
formidable title: "First Part of a
Grammatical Institute of the English
Language," which was speedily fol
lowed by the second and third parts.
The set consisted of a Spelling Book,
a Grammar, and a book of readings.
These text-books were well receiv
ed, and gradually they found their
way into every school and college in I
this country. And so enormous were
the sales that during the twenty
years he spent compiling his great1
Dictionary, Webster's family lived1
comfortably upon the royalties of
his works.
Between 1782 and 1847, twenty- 3
four million copies of these school
books were sold.
Mr. Webster s life work was his
Dictionary. From the time he was
a tiny child he had had a passion for j
words, and used to trot about with
his pockets stuffed full of papers
covered with long lists of words.
During the years he worked on the
Dictionary he examined twenty dif
ferent languages, taking from each
its most important words.
The great Dictionary was an as
sured success, even before its pub
lication. and though others have been
compiled, none have ever been able
to take the place with the American
people of "Websteia."
Noah Webster was a quiet man,
yet one of great strength of char
acter. It is said of him that he was
never known to use a profane or im
pure word, and that he neverf allowed
scandal or coarse stories to be told
in his presence.
He was a man of the simplest hab
its, sincere and honest to a degree
far beyond that of other men. "He
had but one character, and that was
known and read of all men," a friend
said of him the day he died.
His eighty-fifth year found htm as
active mentally as he had been at
twenty-five. He died in 1843, being
busy up to within a few days of his
death.?Harriet Hobson Dougherty in
Kind Words.
Thousands pre sick every year with
some form of Bowel' Complaint. Thou
sands are cured by taking Dr. Seth
Arnold's Balsam. Warranted to give :
satisfaction by Hood Bros.
Ring 311 for all your table needs.
j SLAVONIA USED "C. Q. D.M CALL.
Wireless Feat Saved Passengers and
Crew of Wrecked Steamer Slavo
nia?Prinzess Irene's Ready Re
sponse.
| Punta Delgada, Azores Island, June
! 12.?Wireless telegraph played a
prominent part In the saving of the
j crew and passengers of the Cunard
j Line steamer Slavonia now a total
wreck two miles southwest of Flores
Island. The wireless feat of the
j steamer Republic was equalled if not
excelled. The steamer Prinzess Irene
was 180 miles away when the thrill
ing call "C. Q. D." was picked up.
Immediately upon receipt of the
message of distress the operator
flashed back his answer and learned
the location of the stricken ship. The
Prinzess Irene then hastened at full
speed to the rescue, and every soul
on board the Slavonia was saved.
It was shortly before the midnight
of Wednesday, June 9, that the wire
less distress signal was received on
board the Prinzess Irene. The opera
tor answered and immediately got a
message in reply saying the Slavonia
was ashore, and asking the Prinzess
Irene to come to her assistance.
ax mis lime tne **nnzess Irene was
180 miles distance from the Slavonia.
Her course was at once changed, and
she went ahead at full speed 15 knots
an hour, to the designated location,
two miles southwest of Flores Island.
The Prinzess Irene arrived along
side the Slavonia Thursday after
noon. It was arranged that she
should take on board the cabin pas
sengers of the Cunard Liner and
work to that end was at once begun.
All Thursday night was taken up
with the transfer, and the 110 pas
sengers, men, women and children,
were on board by day light. The
transfer was made without a single
accident
Early Friday morning the Prin
zess Irene left the Slavonia for Gi
braltar.
In the meantime the wireless calls
for help sent out by the Slavonia had
been heard by the Hamburg-Ameri
can line steamer Batavia, which also
hastened to the scene of the wreck.
The intermediate and steerage pas
sengers of the Slavonia were transfer
red, also without accident, to this
vessel.
There remained on board the Sla
vonia only the members of the crew,
but according to the latest intelli
gence received here, the entire sliip't
company left the wreck and went
ashore at Velas, on the island of
Flores, some time on Friday morning.
At that time the Slavonia was full of
water and she was a total wreck.
The Slavonia was slowly feeling
her way about two miles south of
Flores Island, when she suddenly
grounded. All efforts to back off
proved fruitless and a call for help
was immediately sent out.
WAS SON OF SIAMESE TWIN.
Jesse Bunker Killed By Lightning
In North Carolina.
Winston-Salem, N. C., June 11.?
Jesse Bunker, a deaf-mute and young
est son of Chang, one of the fannus
Siamese twins,, was killed by lightn
ing today in his tobacco barn in Sur
ry county.
He and his son and a workman
took shelter in the barn from a rain
storm. bunker s hat and shoes were
torn to pieces, but the body was not
bruised or mutilated. The son and
workman were knocked senseless and
remained in that condition for an
hour or more.
Bunker was 48 years old and pros
perous. He was intelligent and en
tertaining, and enjoyed conversing
with his friends through the medium
of pencil and paper. The famous
twins, it will be recalled, married
Virginia women. The sons of the
Siamese have all been well-to-do. The
peculiar inheritance of deafness was
an affliction that added an additional
strangeness to the family. The mute
was bright and quick to wit, though
in each branch of the family there
seems to have been more or less 3
freak of nature. The older boys of
the Chang family have spread out
into other sections.
The degree of L. L. D. was con
ferred on Mr. J. P. Caldwell, editor
of the Charlotte Observer, by Era
ktne College, Greenwood. S. C., thl?
week. r