North Carolina Newspapers

2l)f Smitljfulb Mtrali. \ Price One Dollar Per Year "TRUE TO OURSELVES, OUR COUNTRY AND OUR GOD.- SlnBl? Coplee Ply* Cento VOL. 28. SMITHPIELD. N. C.. FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 8.1909. NO. 27 GREAT FLOODS IN MEXICO.] Death Toll 1,400 and 15,000 Are Homeless. Territory Along San Juan River and Its Tributaries Has Been Rendered Desolate?Devasta tion Complete in Inland Towns. Mexico City, Aug. 30.?Conservative estimates of the damage by the flood 1 at Monterey place the dead at 1,400 and the property loss at $12,000,000. The river has receded and the dan-' ger is over. One quarter of the city was de-1 stroyed, and 15,000 persons today are homeless. The water mains are use- j less and the place is consequently j without a drinking supply; neither is there light or street car service, as the power plant has been damaged. It will be impossible to resume train service for a week, and as a result the city is threatened with a famine. The slaughterhouses have j been destroyed. Ten thousand people are fed on bread, coffee, and soup by J the municipal authorities, and the American consul is giving food to all who apply. The work of recovering bodies of j the flood victims is still in progress, j No official report of the number re covered has yet been issued, but it j Is known that in Monterey and ad- ' jacent towns more than 1,500 corpses j had been found up to 3 o'clock to day. The villages in the Santa Catarina canyon, above Monterey, were swept away like so many straws, and the Inhabitants were drowned by the score. The loss o* life at Santa Cla rina, Garcia, Riconada, and Ojo Cal lente was especially heavy. All along the San Juan River and Its tributaries there is a broad scope of territory which is rendered deso late by the flood. Thousands of acres of irrigated lands and prosper ous towns were located in these val leys. Their devastation is complete. Ijj*-6ome places the river attained a width of twenty miles. Many daring ! feats of rescue were preformed in i the villages and rural districts. The damagee to the electric street j railway, waterworks system, and j electric light plant is estimated at} $2,000,000. The damage to the smel ters, iron and steel plants, and other Industrial concerns is not as great as j first reported; probably $1,000,000 all told will cover their losses. Slept in Fire on a Wagon. Last week Mr. Dellie Smith, of Wilson's Mills township, had a thrill ing experience while bringing a load of tobacco to Smithfield. It took place about two miles from here on the road near the home of Mr. Buck Talton. Mr. Smith was sitting on some cotton bagging which was used as a covering for the tobacco. He struck a match and lighted a cigar ette which he smoked for some time. He became sleepy and lean; Ing back dropped into a sound slum ber. The cigarette went from his mouth to the bagging and set it afire. It was some time before he knew what had taken place. The fire did not wait for him but went on with its work. When he realized what was happening he did quick work and with the help of others put out the fire after about half the to bacco had been ruined. The signs of the fire are still to be seen on the J road. As we were not present we j cannot vouch for the statement which! Is being made that the mule's tafl caught on fire but this is one of the things which is being told. The oth er part of the story we think is cer tainly true and the mule's tail part of It may be just as stated. The j thing which Mr. Smith has learned i Is that cotton bagging, dry tobacco, lighted cigarettes and sleep will not ; work well together. What Killed the Cat? Little Davey Sloan is forever ask ing questions. "You'd better keep still or some thing will happen to you," his tired i mother finally told him one night. "Curiosity once killed a cat, you know." Davey was so impressed with this that he kept silent for three minutes: "Say. Mother, what was it the cat wanted to know?"?Everybody's Mag azine. A deaf husband and a blind wife ure always a happy couple.?French. CRUSADE AGAINST PELLAGRA. Durham Physicians Have Determined To Locate Cause of The Fatal Dis ease?Corn Bread Theory Has Been Abandoned. Durham, N. C., Aug. 31.?Alarmed by the number of cases of pellastfa which have developed in this vicinity local physicians today began experi ments to locate the origin of the dis ease. Six deaths from pellagra have occurred in this section. An examination of the blood of a powerful negro, who has the disease j in a most aggravated form, revealed | a distinct organism and specimens were sent to Richmond and to Johns Hopkins University for more careful analysis. If a germ is found, as physicians here are inclined to believe, some ani-! mal will be Inoculated and a campaign; against pellagra upon the germ theo ry will be waged. The theory that the disease has its origin in corn practically has been abandoned by lo-1 cal medical men, but a fierce war j against the importation of Western corn is being conducted. CLAYTON NEWS. Mrs. John W. Massey and Miss Winona are on a tour in Virginia and Maryland. Mr. John S. Barnes left Wednes day morning for New York and Bal timore to buy fall and winter stocks for Messrs. Ashley Horne & Son. Mr. and Mrs. L. H. Champion mov ed to their new home on Barbour Heights Wednesday morning. Mr. Exum Hall left Saturday to Join his brother, Mr. B. L. Hall, in Jackson, Ga., where he has a good position awaiting hi*n. Mr. Roy Robertson, who has a splendid position with a drug con cern in Greensboro, is spending sev eral days as home. A handsome new brick store will J replace the old wooden structure us- i ed by the Clayton Fruit Co. The old store is being moved out into the ; street until the new one can be ] erected, work on which will be be- j 1 gun just as soon as the old one is i out of the way. i Tobacco prices have been consider- i ably better this week than formerly. 1 Some very good averages have been ] i made on both floors this week. 1 The Ministers' and Laymen's con-1 ] ference met with the Clayton Baptist i church Friday, Saturday and Sunday, j i August 27, 28, and 29th. There were about 100 visitors in attendance from ? other churches throughout the associ- i atlon. | The telephone exchange will soon i have a new home. Mr. C. W. Horne i is having a two-story building erect- i i ed near D. T. Smith's store. The < telephone exchange will occupy the ? upper room and Mr. D. T. Smith' the i lower. * i Messrs. J. T. Barnes and J. J. Ferrell left Monday morning for Bal- , timore where they will purchase j, stocks for their respective firms. j i Miss lone Gulley left last Friday for Castalia where she will teach in ; the Castalia High school and Busi- j, 8Mt Institute. Mr. Walter Stallings and family, of ( Raleigh, have moved here. 1 Mr. C. M. Thomas and Dr. J. J. , Young are having their houses re- i painted. i Several bales of new cotton have | been sold on our market. One bale , yesterday (Tuesday) sold for 12 1-16 | cents. We hope it will hold up at ? this good figure. 1 Mr. H. J. Wilkins, of near Wilson's j j Mills, was here on business Wednes- 1 | day. S. L. W. , Clayton, Sept. 1. Pitchblende, the mineral in which radium la found In almost infinitesl mally small quantities, has been dis- ; covered?a large bed of it?on the McCloud River in California. 'Tis pity that the tariff revision farce in i Washington ended before the discov ery was made. An appeal to protect ( the nascent radium industry by lay- i lng a tax on the raw material thereof would surely not have gone unheard. The product of the foreign pauper ra dium industry costs $5,000,000, more or less, per pound; and there Is a bout one ounce of it in all the wide world. Alas for our hindsight! the foreigners can now dump their pro duct on us and flood the market with their cheap stuff.?Philadelphia Re cord. YIELD WAS 13,825,457 BALES. Greatest Production in History of South's Great Staple. So Secreta ry Hester Reports?Southern Mills Consumed 2,559,873 Bales. New Orleans .Aug. 31.?Statistics j showing that more cotton was handl ed during the commercial year end- j lng tonight than ever before and . that all records had been broken in I the amount of cotton consumed by | Southern mills, was the features of the annual crop statement of Secre- j tary Hester of the New Orleans Cot- ( ton Exchange. The document forms the preliminary report of Secretary | Hester's annual review of the com- j mercial year. The count of the commercial crop showed it to be the largest on record : 13,825,457 bales. The previous larg- j est commercial crop was 13,565,885. ! marketed in 1904-05. Last season's total was only 11,571,966. The most important feature in the report next to the size of the crop ! itself, was the statement on the a- i mount of cotton consumed by South- ! ern mills during the season which closed today. Here are the records i which were again broken, the total | being 2,559,873 bales. This point was regarded by the bulls as being even of more importance than the size of the crop itself. It was taken as ot ficial confirmation of the many sto ries of the great expansion of cotton manufacturing in the South. The figures compared with 2,193,000 last season, and 2,439,000 two seasons ago. I In the point of port receipts another record was Woken. Net receipts at all ports for the season were put at 10?062,845 bales, against only 8,579, 842 last fear and 9,91^;533^ two ye^rs ago. } i ? I Lightning's Work Near Smithfi^l^ Last Sunday night lightning did some lively work on one of the dwell ing houses at Smithfield Cotton Mills. It first struck the chimney and de- j molished about a foot of the top of it then went down the chimney to the rafters. It loosened the shingles rrom the sheeting over about half the roof so that the place will have to be recovered. New shingles have al ready been carried there for that pur pose. It tore the weatherboarding from the front room at the south end ; 3i the front porch while at the same Lime the ceiling of the same wall >'<ij scattered in the front room where a bed post was split open by i the lightning. In this same room a gun was thrown from some large j nails where it was resting the bar rel being separated from the stock and several screws from it were 1 scattered and lost. Eight persons were in the back room. Some of them were slightly shocked but no ane injured. The stroke tore the weatherboarding from the east side 3t the room and the ceiling from the east and north sides of it. A post of the bed in the center of this room where the lightning did so much was broken. A girl on this bed was cov ered with ceiling which fell from the \ walls. The ceiling on the south end of the cook room was demolished, j two windows were damaged and sev eral panes of glass shattered. The top of a glass preserve jar was brok en and a wood saw was knocked to the floor and some of the iron parts lut In two. Broken and shattered pieces of ceiling and weatherboarding were scattered all over the house so that it looked more like the work of a cyclone than that of lightning. This is the fourth one of these houses struck in the last seven years. She Has Lived 101 Years. To be patient in the waiting time and grateful to all the kind friends who wish her happiness is the whole wish of Miss Mary McClain, who is | quietly observing her 101st birthday today at the Home for Indigent Wid- j dws and Single Women, at Thirty sixth and Chestnut streets, where j she has lived for 37 years. Miss McClain was born in Norris town on August 26, 1808, and was the daughter of David McClain, a farmer. Her only living relative to day is Mrs. Mary Erb, of Camp Hill, Md., the daughter of her brother Charles. A few little gifts and some special delicacy with her dinner will disturb the even tenor of her birth day.?Philadelphia Record, Aug. 26. COOK FINDS NORTH POLE. Longed-For Goal Reached by Ameri can. Made One-Man Dash. He Ar rived at the Pole On April 21, 1908. Is Now on His Way Home. Brussels, Sept. 1.?The Observato-, ry here received the following tele gram dated Lerwick, Shetland Is lauds: "Reached North Pole April 21, 1908. Discovered land far North. Return to Copenhagen by steauier Hans Egede. (Signed) "FREDERICK COOK." THE EXPEDITION. Left New York, July 4, 1907. Left Etah, Greenland, March 3, 1908. Last message dated Cape Hubbard, EHesinere Land, March 17, 1908. Reached North Pole, April 21, 1908. Copenhagen, Sept. 1.?Dr. F. AJ Cook, the American explorer, reach ed the North Pole April 21, 1908, ac cording to a telegram just received at the Colonial Office here from Ler wick, Shetland Islands. Dr. Cook is on board the Danish government steamer llans Egede, which passed Lerwick at noon today, en route for Denmark. The telegram announcing Dr. Cook's achievement was sent by a Greenland official on board the steamer, and reads as follows: "We have on board the American traveler, Dr. Cook, who reached the North Pole April 21, 1908. Dr. Cook arrived at Upernavik (the northern most Danish settlement in Greenland, on an island off the west coast) in May of 1909 from Cape York (in the northwest part of Greenland, on Baf fin Bay). The Eskimos of Cape York confirm Dr. Cook's story of his journey." The Eskimos at Cape York, men tioned in the dispatch from the of ficial on board the steamer Hans Egede, are said to be connected with the expedition of the Danish explorer, Knud Rasmussen, who is now at I Cape York. It is believed here that Dr. Cook was accompanied on his dash to the | Pole by only a few Eskimos. The news of the achievement of the American explorer has created in tense excitement in Copenhagen. Red Spider's Bad Work. Mr. J. F. Wellons who lives in Beulah township near Micro was here Tuesday and tells of the bad work of the red spiders on his farm. He j has thirteen acres in cotton and the spiders have gone nearly all ov- | er it. They started in July and I have been steadily at work. On a- ! bout three acres they have caused al-1 most a total loss and the balance of the field will average more than fif- \ ty per cent damage. They started ; on a poke stalk and killed it first. It 1 really looks like farmers will have1 to make war on poke bushes. Mr. Wei- I ions says the spiders have started on j the cotton of Mr. J. W. Mozlngo on an adjoining farm. He visited Wil- i son county recently and found they had gone over about two acres of cotton on the farm of one of Mr. J. I T. Revel's tenants. The Longest Pipe Line. Pipe-line connections have been completed by which it is possible to pipe oil from the Oklahoma wells to New York harbor. Oil has been started on the long journey of 1,500 | miles. This Is the longest pipe line in existence in the United States, and indeed in the world. It' is not prob-] able that much oil from the midcon tinent district will be brought to the seaboard at present, and the comple tion of the line seems to be more in the nature of a provision for the future, or for emergencies which may arise. Oklahoma has the most active oil field in the country at present; ! moreover Its production is increasing,; while that of Pennsylvania and West Virginia is decreasing. It may not be long before the western wella will be called upon to supply the sea- j board and export demand.?American Machinist. "It was Charles Reade, wasn't It, who wrote, 'Nothing is so terrible as a fool'7" "Yes; but he was wrong. I live next door to a newly-married couple. If Charles could see them he would at once admit that two fools are even more terrible."?Chica go Record-Herald. THE NEW DISEASE IN RALEIGH. Many Cases of Pellagra Reported From State Insane Hospital. Raleigh, N. C., Sept. 1.?Supt. James McKee, of the State Hospital for the Insane, announces 14 cases of pellagra among patients In that in stitution. Thero have been lit in all, about one-third resulting in death. The first case diagnosed as pellagra occurred 18 months ago and there have been a total of nine cases. A few days ago one patient died, Alvin Adams, of Newbern, brought to the hospital as insane because of sick ness from pellagra. Dr. McKee says that he uses only the best grade of water ground corn meal in the corn bread eaten at the hospital and that he does not think pellagra Is caused by It. NATIONAL GINNERS' REPORT. Gives Condition of Cotton Crop on August 24 at 64.1. Memphis, Tenn., August 30.?The report of the National Ginners' As sociation, made public this afternoon, gives the condition of cotton up to and including August 24, as G4.1 per cent. "This is the lowest condition in a number of years," the report says, "and indicates a crop of about 10,500, 000 bales. An early frost would re duce these figures somewhat, and a late frost would probably increase the total yield to 11,000,000 bales." North Carolina is placed at 75 per cent. KENLY NOTES. Miss Lovie Strickland, of Wilson, is visiting Miss Eva High. Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Bains, of War saw, are visiting at Mr. W. T. Bai ley's. Mr. R. T. Fulghum, of Lumberton, has accepted the position formerly held by Mr. Lelon Grady at the Drug Store with Dr. Geo. A. Hood. Mr. Fulghum begins work today and i Mr. Grady goes to Baltimore soon to j study Pharmacy. There will be a revival at the M. j E. church, beginning next Monday. The Pastor, Rev. C. B. Culbreth, will be aided in the meetings by Rev. Mr. Royal, of Pittsboro. Everybody is Invited to attend and take part in the services. we are vary sorry to note that Miss Lydia Darden is seriously sick. We were sorry to learn of the death of Mr. Howard Hinnant, son of Mr. H. R. Hinnant, who formerly lived here. He died Monday. We are glad to see ne\f enterpris es rising up here and there In our town. The last is a new market run by Messrs. J. C. Casper & Bro. We hope for them much success. Lightning struck Mr. T. J. Jones' residence Sunday night running down the stove flue and bursting a hole through the floor in the stove. No other damage done. Miss Ethridge, of Smithfield, visit ed the Misses Bailey this week. Mrs. Dora Gilbreath left last Fri day for Baltimore where she goes to buy her fall stock of millinery goods. Her daughter, Miss Lois, accompa nied her as far as Tarboro to spend a few weeks. REPORTER. Kenly, Sept. 1. How a Flea Jumps. It is said that a flea leaps two hundred times its height, and while it usually does It lands on its feet, it is usually does laud on its feet, it a perfectly smooth surface where the claws can get only a slight hold. A flea has six legs, whose great length and bulk make them so heavy that they must ba a great help in keep ing their owner right side up when it makes one of those gigantic Jumps; and when it lands upside down, or In some other way, its ability to kick is so great, that not more than one wriggle is needed to set things right. | A flea's wings are mere scales, and | of no use; but small and worthless as they are, they tell the entomologis about the proper classification of the insect. To the flea itself they have no value.?From Nature and Science in St. Nicholas. The British and Foreign Bible So ciety last year distributed 5,934,711 Bibles. SELLING COTTON IN GEORGIA. More Than Six Hundred Bales Sold In One Day at About $60 Per Bale. Such Receipts Make Good Busi ness. The Joy wagons, harbingers of real Joy, came with the cotton bales yes terday?hundreds of thein?and the five warehouses here were all scenes of unwonted activity as the bales were weighed and sold. For at cur rent prices, around 12 cents, the man who holds his cotton will aver age about one In a score. Receipts were unexpectedly heavy for an August day. In fact, the num ber of bales marketed here yesterday alone would have made a banner day for late September. But the whole crop is opening at once, and the receipts will be quite heavy in consequence. Every variety of team, from the ox cart with its single bale and1 sable driver, to the spanking six-mule team piled high with bales, combined to make the spectacle one most Interest ing. Particularly was it pleasing to Americus merchants, for it meant good trade in all lines later. Americus has not witnessed a busier day in a twelvemonth, marking as it did the opening of the busy cot ton season in the busiest market in southern Georgia. Yesterday's receipts in Americus totaled 641 bales, probably more than was received in any market in the state. Sales were numerous, and at an average of $60 per bale more than $40,000 of '"cotton money" was turn ed into business channels. Such heavy receipts however, indi cate serious conditions on the farm. It tells the story of crops destroyed by drought, the greater portion of thT? cotton opening all at one time. At the present rate of picking, with no young bolls to follow, the bulk of the crop here will soon be gathered. Such is the opinion of the best posted farmers of the county. But the spectacle yesterday of streets crowded with cotton wagons and the consequent boost to business was most inspiring, and Americus hopes to witness many other days in the cotton season quite as good.? Americus (Ga.) Times-Recorder, Au gust 28. Galveston Protected. Nine years ago a tidal wave swept over the place where Galveston stood, and thousands of lives were lost and millions in property were destroyed. At once Galveston began to build a wall for her protection. After care ful investigation of the whole prob lem* a committee of three engineers devised a plan for building a great sea wall at a cost of 3 Mi millions of dollars. The wall was made of solid concrete 16 feet high. 16 feet thick at the base, 5 feet at the top. with a breakwater 27 feet in width in front of It, the whole to skirt the gulf for 3% miles. On the 29th of July. 1904, the great sea wall stood completed, a monu ment to the indomitable spirit of the people of Galveston, which is the spirit of the people of Texas, which is the spirit of the people of America. The government of the United States extended this wall a mile, so as to include Fort Crockett. The wall was tested Tuesday, July 20, by another hurricane. The waves came rolling higher than before, but they beat in vain upon the stone wall of Galveston. No lives were lost, and no more property destroyed than in an ordinary storm. We congratulate the people of Gal veston. See what can be done to overcome the forces of nature and to make wind and water and fire the servants of man instead of his mas ters.?Home and Farm. WOMAN SURE "13" IS HOODOO. Man She Wed July 13* Gets Away With Her $13,000. New York. Aug. 28.?After IS days of ardent wooing Mrs. W. E. Lynch, aged 49, a widow of 13 months, married on July 13. Thirteen days later she could not find her husband, nor could she find $13,00i1 which she declares she gave him. Now she wants the police to recover her money, but says she cares noth ing for the man, whose name of Keeler s'ae refuses to bear.