iv\?,,n?r, jr ? ? v TO ' - ? ""W If ^ f p*'" ~
?bf Ssmittjfirlb Jtefalft
VOL. 29 SMITHFIELD, N. C., FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1911 Number 47
*
ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR. EDUCATION GOOD ROADS GOOD HEALTH PROGRESS FIVE CENTS PER COPY.
CONGRESSMAN POU
? ISSUES STATEMENT
Agreed to Go on Ways and
Means Committee
GETS OTHER GOOD ASSIGNMENTS
Will Very Gladly Support Kitchin
In Caucus For Place On Ways
And Means Committee.
Observer Bureau, 44 Post Building,
Washington, D. C., Jan. 16?Con
gressman Pou to-day Issued the fol
lowing statement:
"Before the holiday recess and
before there was any suggestion of
opposition to the Democratic mem
bers of the ways and means commit
tee who voted against free lumber.
It was agreed between Mr. Clark
and myself that I would probably go
Oil the ways and means committee, if
hs gave me certain assignments,
which he had In view and which
were very much preferred by me.
The suggestion that I ought to go off
the committee In that event came
from me. When it was announced
that no man who voted as I did
could remain on the committee,
I thought we might as well fight out
the difference. I know that this an
nouncement did not receive the ap
proval of Mr. Clark or Mr. Under
wood and I know fJso that Mr. Clark
wouj-l have insisted on my remain
ing on the committee, if the fight
along this line had been kept up.
?nd I have an idea that his wishes
would have prevailed.
"Jt Is now understood perfectly
that there Is to be no discrimina
tion agaiinst any one on account of
?ny vote heretofore casit and it is
Rlf.o understood that, as far as pos
sible, all dlffe-rences are to be
held in abeyance durtng the Sixty
g>vond Congress. So far as J am
concerned, I cart not see that any
thing is left to fight for, and I
thick It would be puerile for me to
continue to fight for a place 1 hid
already voluntarily agreed to give up
and to decline to accept assignments,
which my friends know 1 veTy much
prefer, because some - report sent
Out from Washington has said I could
not again be eleoted on the ways
?nd means committee. I shall ac
cept the places which Mr. Clark
and Mr. Underwood ask me to ac
cept. I have made no campaign for
any position, have not solicited sup
port from my colleagues and have
only written two letters about com
mittee assignments in response to
letters written by colleagues to me.
"Frfom the day I came to Wash
ington before Congress met; I have
done what I could, absolutely re
gardless of any personal ambition, to
help settle in a proper and honorable
manner all differences which were
calculated to divide the Democrats
of the House. I believe both Mr.
Clark and Mr. Underwood will very
cheerfully indorse this statement.
The prospects for Democratic vic
tory in 1912 are so bright that I
would feel like a criminal if I had
pursued any other course. I would
gladly serve on the committee on
ventilation and accoustics, if by so
doing I can help elect a Democratic
President in 1912.
"The tentative agreement reached
Is entirely agreeable to me. I could
not be better satisfied, even if I had
made a fig-ht from a selfish stand
point. I think the country will see
the Democrats of the next House
more united, if possible, under the
leadership of Mr. Clark and Mr.
Underwood, than we have ever been
before. North Carolina will have
representation on a large number of
the great committees which formu
late and control legislation than ever
before. I shall very gladly sup
port Mr. Kltchln in the caucus for a
place on the .ways and means com
mittee. His services deserve the
very highest recognlzatlon.
"If I have done what is best to
promote the success of my party
without surrendering one iota of the
principles in which I believe, if I
have done what is best for the In
terest of my colleagues from North
Carolina. If the result shall en
able me to show my gratitude to
some of those who for years have
so loyally supported me, it would
seem that I have some reason to
be content."
Mr. Pou also said that Hon. Champ
Clark read his statement before it :
was given to the press and said, "Ev
ery word of Pou's statement espect
ing what took place between him and
me is the exact truth. His course
from the beginning is deserving of
the highest commendation."?Char
lotte Observer.
201 DEAD IN EARTHQUAKE.
Great Damage Done by Violent Tre
more at Kebery, Asiatic Russia.
St. Petersburg, Jan. 13.?A dispatch
received here to-day from Vyerny,
Asiatic Russia, says that a violent
earthquake occurred last night a
Kebery, in the Pishpek district of
the territory.
| The bodies of 204 Kirghiz have ,
I been dug from the ruins of fallen '
buildings.
Cot. W. J. Hicks Dead.
Raleigh, N. C., Jan. 16.?Col. W.
J. Hicks, for 13 years superinten
dent of the Oxford Orphanage, died
there at 3 o'clock Saturday morn
ing. Colonel Hicks retired from the
superintendency some time ago, but j
was still there serving as "a labor j
of love," as the Masons expressed it.
He was 83 years old and had been in
feeble health for quite a while.
EIGH1 MEN KILLED ON WARSHIP
EXPLOSION ON THE DELAWARE
WITH FATAL RESULTS.
Occurred in Boiler Room as Ship
Was Returning From Cuban
Waters.
Wa-hiEgxr, Jan. 17.?Eight Men
met instant death and one man was
j so horribly burned that he probably
' will die as a result of a boiler ex
plosion aboard the battleship Dela
|v.are thL. morning, the cause of;
j which is yet unadjusted according to
to > wireless message tonight to
| the Navy Department from Captain
Gove.
The Delaware was on her way to
Hampton Roads from Guantanamo,
, Cuba.
The nine victims were on duty in
the- boiler room when the accident
occurred. A terriffic shock sent the
I crew scurrying below and nine bodies
were dragged from the cloud of hot
steam that hissed through the hold.
Captain Gove wired the Navy Depart
ment the names of eight men who
were killed, but the identity of the
ninth victim who was carjied from
the boiler room wiht traces of life 1
in liim was designated as "unknown'
in Cap'ain Gove's message.
Two Deaths In a Family.
In the death of Mr. Simeon C.
Peedin, of Pine Level, on Tuesday,
January 10th, Johnston County loses
one of her best citizens. He had
a case of pneumonia about four
years ago and his health has been
very poor since then. He had been
ill about a month before his death.
The funeral was preached at Beth
| any, Primitive Baptist church, at
Pine Level, where ho held his mem
bership, by Elder J. W. Gardner, of
Goldsboro. He was buried at the
John R. Creech graveyard. Mr. Pee
din was born November 7th, 1847,
and was In his 64th year when he
died. He was one of the best far
mers of the County. He followed
the intensive system and made large
crops. Until his health failed, he
took a great Interest in everything
, about his farm. For a short time be
| fore his death he had been living
at pine Level and running a store.
' He was a good business man. His
place will be hard to fill. We re
| gret to chronicle the death of such
men. Among his sons are Mr. A.
| P, Peedin, of Washington, D. C., and
Mr. A. A. Peedin, a merchant of
Smlthfield.
Mr. Aggrippa Jasper Peedin, a
son of Mr. Simeon C. Peedin, was
born June 30th, 1881, and died Jan
uary 3, 1911.
FOOD PRICES ARE
GOING TO TUMBLE
Butter and Eggs in Cold
Storage to Unload
CHICAGO MEN FACE FAILURE
Wholesale Prices of Butter and Eggs
Already Lower, and Retail Fig
ures May Follow.
Chicago, Jan. 15.?Millions of
pounds of butter, eggs, cheese and
poultry held in cold storage ware
houses here will be thrown on the
market before May 1, and a gen
eral tumbling of food prices is ex
pected at once, according to com
mission merchants.
Numerous Chicago commission men
are said to be facing failure as a re
sult of their efforts to maintain an
artificial price on the necessities of
life. The Inability further to up
hold this price Is said to be due to
a combination of circumstances, chief
of which are the open winter of
1911 and the banner crops of 1910.
Three commission men failed In
the last week as a result, it is said,
of holding great quantities of but
ter, which they purchased at an av
erage price of 31 cents a pound and
now are unable to market for more
than 27 or 28 cents a pound.
While the wholesale prices of
butter and eggs have dropped with
in the last few weeks, there has as
yet been no decline in the retail
prices.
Some of the produce which now
is to be unloaded on a failing mar
ket has been in warehouses for as
long as five years. By means of
the cold storage houses commission
men have been able to maintain an
artificial price, not only io the
consumer, but to the producer, it
is said.
No public warehouse report is
ever made Were, and the exact
amount of produce in the hands of
Chicago firms cannot be estimated.
Thirty-two warehouses are said to
have 44.000,000 pounds of butter, eggs
and poultry. Men familiar with the
market condition to-day said it would
be impossible to say whether that
figure represented the total or
whether it was only a small per
centage of the entire amount.
The increased sale of oleomargar
ine is given as an added cause for
the situation that the commission
men now find themselves facing.
Thousands of consumers, unable to
pay the price at which butter has
been held, have become users of ol
eomargarine, according to informa- j
tion gathered by dealers.
Butter is six cents a pound low- j
er, wholesale, than it was a year
ago, and Is selling to grocers at
the lowest figure in five years.
NEW BOY "SALTED" THE COWS.
Rubbed It Into Their Hides, and
Horses Pursued Herd.
Chicago, Jan. 13.?Arthur Mannlx,
a farmer living near Hammond, Ind.,
was astounded yesterday afternoon
at the sight of his herd of cows be
ing madly pursued by four of his
horses. As one of the cows dropped
from exhaustion the fartier ran to
the rescue, expecting to see her
trampled. Instead the horses eager
ly began licking her hide.
Investigation disclosed that a boy
from Chicago, recently employed,
when told to "salt the cows/' had
carefully rubbed the salt all over
the animals, working It Into the
hair. The horses were "salt hun
| gry."
FIRE KILL3 THREE BABIES.
Gasolene Stove Exploded In Their
Mother'* Absence.
Duluth, Minn., Jan. 15.?The three
daughters of Peter Bubee, aged one,
four and six years, were burned to
death to-day at their home at Knife
River.
A gasolene stove exploded nhile
Mrs. Bubee was away from home.
THE LEGISLATURE
NOW AT WORK
To Increase the Salaiy
of Judges
BONDS TO PAY INDEBTEDNESS
Johnston's Senators and Representa
tives Have Good Committee
Appointments.
In the matter of Committee As
signments, our Senators and Repre
sentatives fared pretty well. Sena
tor Barbour is on a number of im
portant committees as follows:
Appropriations, Revisal of Judi
ciary, No. 2, Education, Mining, Shell
fish, Senate Expenditures?Chairman,
Institution for the Blind, Internal
Improvements, Public Roads, Corpora
tions, Legislative Apportionment, and
Distribution of Governor's Message.
Senator Baggett has the following
committee assignments:
Revisal of Judiciary, No. 2, Banks
and Currency, Claims?Chairman,
Privileges and Elections, Penal In
stitutions, Institution for the Blind,
Manufacturing, Insane Asylum, and
Printing.
Our Representatives in the House
are not on so many committees, but
they have enough to do to keep
them busy. Mr. Home is on the
following:
Finance. Banks and Currency, Joint
Committee Public Buildings and
Grounds-Chairman, Insurance and
Pensions.
Mr. Allred has the following com
mittee assignments:
Judiciary, No. 2, Corporation Com
mission, Courts and Judicial Dis
tricts, Corporations, Enrolled Bills,
and Internal Improvements.
These committer assignments have
been gathered from the daily pa
pers and there may have been some
that escaped our notice. If, how
ever we find this la true, we shall
try to give them later.
We shall not attempt to give all
the work of the legislature, but we
shall try to keep our readers post
ed on what our own representatives
are doing.
The most important bili introduc
ed in the Legislature Thursday of
last week was by Senator Graham
"to provide for the payment of all
appropriations which have heretofore
been or shall hereafter be made dur
ing the session, and for the redemp
tion of bonds falling due on Janu
ary 1, 1913. The bill contains a pre
amble quoting from Governor Kltch
in's message and State Treasurer
Lacy's report as to the need of more
funds, and authorizes the Treasurer,
upon approval of the Governor and
his council, "to borrow whatever mon
ey is sufficient to cover the differ
ence between the amounts appropria
ted and the revenues received by the
Treasurer during any ficsal year."
For the redemption of the notes so
given, or If loans cannot be made
at satisfactory rates of Interest, the
Treasurer is authorized and directed
to issue bonds of the State of North
Carolina, payable forty years from
date of issue, not to exceed the sum
of one million dollars. The bonds
are to be issued in denominations of
one hundred, five hundred, and
one thousand ^ollars, and are to
draw interest at the rate of four
per cent, payable semi-annually."
Judge Ewart, the Republican lead
er in the House, seems to be an en
ergetic member, If one Is to Judge
by the number of bills he Introduces.
Friday he introduced a bill to pro
hibit the Pullman Car Company from
charging mor? than $1.25 for lower
and $1.00 for upper berths on cars
used In Intra-state traffic.
The bill of Mr. Battle, of Wake,
permits the State Agricultural Socie
ty u have $150,000 worth of proper
ty and provide additional fair build
i ngs. The bin has passed the House.
The following bills have passed the
House:
To amend the Revisal relating to
Jury fees before Justices of the peace
for Johnston county.
To ft* salaries for county officers
of Beaufort county; provide# com
pensation as follows: Sheriff $3,
200; Clerk $2,100; register of deeds
$2,400; treasurer $1,000; auditor $900.
To provide for the payment of costs
of convicted defendants in Johnston
1 county.
The Wake County Good Roads As
sociation has launched a campaign
| in favor of a $300,000 bond Issue in
j Wake county. The Legislature will
I be asked to authorize the bond Issue
subject to the vote of the people.
In the House a bill has been offer
ed by Cox, of Randolph, to increase
the salary of the chief clerk of the
State auditor to $2,000, and that of
his assistant to $1,500 so they will
be on an equal footing with the
clerks of other departments.
The House Committee on Judicial
Districts decides to report favorably
the bill of Representative Spainmour,
on Burke, for re-adjusting the pay of
Superior Court judges, so they get
pay at the rate of $100 per week for
days of court actually held during
the year and at the end of the year,
if they have not held courts of du
ration (plough to make the present1
salary of $3,250, then the State Au
ditor is to issue a warrant for the
remainder. If extra time is made
by any judges they can earn addition
al compensation to the amount of
$4,000 for his annual compensation.
The House Committee on Liquor
Traffic announces that it will hear
argument Wednesday of next week
for and against State-wide prohibi
tion of near-beer and other drinks of
this class, the bill under cotisldera
I tion being that Representative JCent,'
! of Caldwell.
DR. W. L. CUNINGGIM IS DEAD
WAS PRESIDING ELDER OF THE
RALEIGH DISTRICT.
Passed Away at His Home In Ral
eigh Tuesday Night After an Ill
ness of Only a Week.
Raleigh, N. C., January 18.?Rev.
W. L. Cuningglm, presiding elder of
the Raleigh District of the Metho
dist Episcopal Church, South, died
at his residence here at 12:25 this
morning, after a week's illness, from
pneumonia. Ho was 55 years old
and had served in many important
pastorates, coming to Raleigh last
December, after four years of ser
vice in the Wilmington district.
He was a brother of Rev. Jesse
L. Cuninggim, of Nashville, Tenn.,
and a graduate of the University of
North Carolina and of Vanderbilt Uni
versity.
He had been In the ministry for
about 30 years, and had served at
Raleigh, Oxford, Goldsboro, Hender
son, Weldon, Wilmington, Durham,
i and other points. For many years
I he was secretary of the North Caro
lina conference.
STATE TROOPS GUARD SLAYER.
Nathan Montague, Murderer of Three
Tried and Convicted in Six
Hours.
Oxford, N. C., Jan. 16.?Accused of
murdering and burning the family of
J. L. Sanders, and attacking Mat
tie Sanders, before slaying her, Na
i than Montague, a negro, was tried,
convicted, and sentenced to death a
month hence, all within six hours
here to-day. State troops guarded
the court and prisoner from the an
1 gry citizens who usrged around the
building during the proceedings.
; Montague, a small black, took his
doom quietly, and was returned to
; the penitentiary at Raleigh, where
he will A>e put to death February
16. The Jury returned a verdict In
eight minutes, as the prisoner had
confessed. Any other verdict would.
It li said, have brought on a lynch
ing.
All the testimony developed was
purely circumstantial. Though Mon
tague had confessed his crime, the
barbarism of It caused the State to
refrain from developing the confes
sion at the trial, less It Incense
the community beyond control.
^ ? ???'
TLe heart of Bladen county was
opened to the public Saturday when
the first regular passenger train ov
er th? Virginia and Carolina Southern
rolled into Ellzabethtown carrying 80
people.
STATE SELLS ITS
INTEREST IN LAKE
{Company Chartered To
Undertake Proposition
WILL DRAIN BIG DISTRICTS
Boston Capitalist and Man/ North
Carolinians Interested in Deal to
Open Fertile Farming Lands.
Raleigh, Jan. 16.?North Carolina'9
interest in the Mattamuskeet Lake
drainage district, Hyde county, ia
sold by the state board of education
for $100,000 to the Southern Land
Reclamation Company, chartered to
day for the purpose of undertaking
thi? drainage scheme, declared by
Chief Elliott, of the United States
bureau of drainage, the biggest drain
age undertaking In the world. This
lake bed which the state owned Is
15 milea by six miles, an average
depth of only a few feet, with a
black soil underneath expected to
rnaKo intensely fertile farming lands.
The drainage districts include over
one hundred thousand acres, half of
it owned by citizens of Hyde. The
Southern Reclamation Company as
sumes the state's obligations and as
sumes $300,000 of a $400,000 bond
issue for the cost of a drainage sys
tem involving a system of canals
and an immense plant to convey the
water to be neighboring sound, the
pumps having a capacity of 113,000
gallons of water per day. The farm
ing of the drainage districts is com
pleted with J. P. Kerr, of Ashevllle,
J. S. Mann and T. H. B. G-ibbs, of
Hyde county, as commissioners., The
$400,000 of bonds are to be Issued
within the next 60 days the work to
begin very soon thereafter and com
pleted within eighteen months.
D. N. Graves, a Boston capitalist,
is principal stockholder and as
sumes the state's obligations with
other blocks of stocks held) by O. A.
Webb, J. P. Kerr ajid W. T. Mason,
of Ashevllle. They have $150,000
authorized capital and $25,000 sub
scribed. The company not only pays
the state $100,000 for Its fifty thous
and acres, but assumes about $14,000
expense in the preliminary work of
forming the district, the deal being
made possible by verification of the
drainage cost estimates and the with
drawal of exceptions by the Roper
Lumber Company, a subsidiary of the
Norfolk and Southern Railway, which
has exitemsive interest in the dds
trict.
GRANDFATHER AT AGE OF 33.
Son of Spencer, N. C., Man Who Mar
ried at 14 Now a Father.
Spencer, N. C., Jan. 13.?V. H. Bry
son, of Spencer, has become a grand
father at the age of 33. He was
married when 14 years of age, his
wife being only 13 years C months
old.
.His eldest son, who was married
at 17, is now a father.
SHOOTS SELF AND NIECE.
U.icle of 45 Angered Because 14-Year
Old Girl Declined to Wed Him.
Boston, Jan. 13.?Angered because
his 14-year-old niece, Fetimina Viana,
refused to marry him. Candido Viana,
aged 45,' to-day shot and dangerous
ly wounded the girl and then at
tempted to kill himself with a re
volver.
The shooting occurred at Vlana's
home in East Boston. Both man and
girl were taken to a hospital, where
doubt was expressed as to their re
covery.
John K. Teller, who resigned from
congress on Monday, was Inaugurat
ed Governor of Pennsylvania Tues
day. Tener is not yet 48 years* old.
His first fame was won as a profes
sional base-ball player, and later on
he was at the head of the Elks' or
ganization. After leaving the base
ball diamond he went Into banking
i and from thence to congress. Teu
Ier was born In Ireland and came to
this country as a boy of nine.
?