Newspapers / The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, … / April 14, 1911, edition 1 / Page 1
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ffiljf Jimitjjftelfo Hrralfr VOL 30 SMITHFIELD, N. C.. FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 1911 \T - Number 7 I ?ne dollar per year. education oood roads good health progress piye CENTg pEE MANY CONVICTS LOSE LIVES < LIST OF VICTIMS IN BANNER MINE IS 128. No Mourners at Scene of Disaster, ] As Men Were Convicts and Had No Relatives Near. Rescuing Par- , ty Has Harrowing Experiments. , Mine Foreman Meets Death Seek- | Ing to Render Aid. j| ; < Littleton, Ala., April 9.?With the J precision of clockwork, a trained ' corps of rescuers to-night is bring- I I ing a steady stream of bodies from the Banner mine of the Pratt Con- < goildated Coal Company, in which I yesterday's disastrous explosion oc- I curred. It is believed to-night that < J28 is the exact number of victims. This figure was obtained after I making a careful check of all the I men who entered the mine yester- i day morning. There is no longer any hope of finding men alive under ground. Of the 128 dead, only four teen were whites. The general belief to-night is that 1 powder caused the trouble, the opin ion being expressed that damage was i heaviest near the point where the day's supply of explosives was kept. ?, When the rescuers asked for as sistance this afternoon, company of- ! flcials called for volunteers among the convicts, stating that no man ! need go if he were afraid. Sixteen of the negroes in stripes stepped for- i ward in response to the call, and accompanied Inspector Hillhouse and ] six white men underground. There are practically no mourners : at Banner. None of the convicts had relatives near, but a few cu rious negro women stood around the opening and would break into a low, ' mournful, dirge-like chant when the bodies were brought up. The first party of ten government rescuers, headed by Dr. J. J. Rut- I ledge, who entered the mine at 3 o'clock this morning, had a narrow escape from death. A n accident oc- I curred to the boiler used for the 1 fans, and the air was slopped for ] a few minutes. Within a few sec- 1 onds a faint cry for help was heart, from below, and men with oxygen i helmets hurried down. The entire 1 party was overcame by the after damp, and when they were brought ' to the surface physicians had to 1 work over them for nearly an hour before they were able to be mov- i ed to the rescue car. 1 The entire State Board of Convict ' Inspectors is on the scene. Of the 128 men in the mines, before the ' reacue work started, five were free, 1 two whites and three negroes; 123 ' were convicts, twelve of whom were 1 white. Practically all of them were short-term men sent from Jefferson ' county. - .. . i une 01 me mosi immvuv iuvtuvuvB was the death of 0. W. Spradling, 1 one of the mine foremen. Following ? the explosion he escaped with oth- 1 ers, and then returned to the mine ? to render aid. He was found sit ting to-day on a rock with his head in his hands. He was only a short < distance from the open air. He liv- 1 ed at Leeds, Ala., and leaves a wi- ? dow and one child. He had been > handling convict work for the past < i wenty years. 1 Harry McCrory, Rutledge, Roun tree and Camblll were at first < thought to be dead. All returned to work a few hours later. ' ? ? I SOME GASOLINE WAS IN OIL. I It has been discovered that the oil < in the lamp which exploded on the I night of March 23, at the home, near I Olive Branch of Mr. C. A. Pritchard, i containing 15 per cent of gasoline, j Two young ladies, Miss Oracle Bau- i com and Miss Wilma Davis, were covered with the burning oil and so i badly burned that they died the < next morning, and that another younf j lady. Miss Lou Baucom, was also i very badly burned. Another lamp I exploded at Mr. Pritchard's home i Saturday night following the first' ] explosion and this so aroused that < gentleman that be had some of the i oil sent to Raleigh to be analyzed, i The analysis, which was completed ] a few days ago, disclosed the fact, I as above stated, that the oil was ! 15 per cent gasoline, and that to J' this adulterant the explosions were 1 undoubtedly due. The oil, we un- i derstand. was bought in lfarshvtlle. < ?Wadesboro Messenger-Intelligencer. ] FINDS CANOE 2.000 YEARS OLD. Craft of Prehistoric Briton* Un earthed In Scotland. Edinburgh, April 8.?An ancient ca noe, the third found within a few ! weeks at Lochmaben, has been dis ? covered at the Kirk Loch. It is j j[ solid oak. One entire side and part of the other is gone, but from the bottom and the ends it is re cognizable as one of the ancient hoi lowed-out canoes used by the pre historic Britons. When unearthed it was partially tilled with stones, as if it had been sunk with them. Two representative Df the Dumfries Antiquarian Society, ifter examining it, had no hesitation in certifying that it was an ancient j :anoe, which probably dated back i.flOO years. The canoe is thirteen feet in length and at the broadest [>art is two feet eight inches. It is \bout fifteen Inches deep. FACTS ABOUT MEXICO. Area?767,000 square miles. Popu lation, 19,000,000. Silver production, nearly $50,000,000 innually. Gold production, nearly $20,000,000 innually. Value of yearly exports, about (125,000,000. Capitalization of banks, about U00,000,000. Miles of railroad, about 15,000 miles. Republic of Mexico declared inde pendent Feb. 24, 1821. Independence proclaimed Dec. 2, 1822. Recognized by United States in 1823. First constitution proclaimed Oct. i, 1824. Present constitution adopted Feb. >, 1857. Republic consists of 26 states, 1 territory and a federal district. The Rcpubiic cf ?,exico was de clared independent Feb. 24, 1821; es tablished as an empire, under Itur t)ide, in 1822, and proclaimed a re public by Santa Ana, bee. 2, 1822. [turbide abdicated March 20, 182? rhe Mexican flag, green, white and red, was adopted. The first consti tution was formulated in 1823 and 1824 and was proclaimed Oct. 4, 1824. Guadalupe Victoria was elected the rirst president. The Texas revolution of 1836 was successful and the Mexican war es tablished " the annexation of Texas to the United States. The French-English-Spanish inter vention in 1861, during the presid ency of Juarez, brought about the second empire. The war brought out Porfirio Diaz as a republican leader, rhe army of intervention captured the City of Mexico in May, 1863, Juarez and Diaz retiring to San Luis Potosi and establishing the re publican capital. In April, 1864, Archduke Maximilian was proclaimed emperor of Mexico, and reigned two years. In 1866 the French withdrew from Mexico. Juarez and Diaz reorganized the army of the republic and ad tanced on the City of Mexico. The city was captured no May 15, 1867, md Maximilian surrendered. He was court-martialed, sentenced to death ?nd executed on June 19, 1867, and Tejada, president of the supreme court, completed the term. The Republic of Mexico consists 3f 26 states, one territory and one federal district. The national capi tal is the City of Mexico. The State scvernments, like the federal gov ernment, are divided into three parts, the executive or governor, the leg islature and the judiciary. The gov ernor and legislature are elected by people and the Judiciary is appoint ed Mexico abounds in mineral re sources. In 1907, Mexico led the world in the production of silver, producing nearly $40,000,000. In the same year, gold to the value of $18, 300,000 was produced, giving the country sixth rank among the gold producing nations of the world. Iron, copper, lead, quicksilver, zinc, tin. cobalt and nickel are also mined extensively. The value of exports last year amounted to nearly $126, >00,000. The aggregate capital of Mexican banks is about $100,000,000.' rhe building of railroads is progress ing rapidly. In 1876, Mexico had 367 miles of railroad, and this has in creased by 1908 to nearly 15,000.? Denver Times. FREIGHT TRAIN KILLS FLAGMAN.I J. W. Bridget Has Both Legs Cut Off and Dies After Operation at Hospital?Story of Accident Near Benson. Benson, April 7.?Extra through freight No. 939, from Rocky Mount to Florence, Captain Stroud, con ductor, and Mr. Zimmerman, engi neer, ran over J. W. Bridges, the flagman, on the south pass track here this morning, crushing both legs, cutting the right leg off near the thigh and the left one below the knee. Later this evening he died. Bridges was uncoupling a car 011 which the chain extending from the lever to the coupling was broken. He slipped and fell between the moving cars, one of which passed over his legs. He was taken to the officer < of Drs. Parker & Utley, where tem- [ porary medical aid was rendered. Ac companied by Dr. Utley, he was then taken on a special train to the hos pital at Fayetteville, where his limbs were amputated. Bridges, who was a flagman, lived in Rocky Mount and had a wife and one child. He had been In the Coast Line service about two years. Sev eral railroad men here to-day said that he was one of the best men in the service of the Cost Line. The occurrence was deeply deplor ed by the men who worked with Bridges and who hold him in the highest esteem. A message was received by the agent here late this afternoon that Bridges died about 5 o'clock. SHORT NEWS ITEMS. William J. Bryan called at the White House Friday and discussed arbitration with President Taft. Business failures in the United States for the week ending April 6 were 236, against 260 the week be I fore. The surplus freight cars in the United States numbered 196,217 March 29, a decrease of 12,310 since March 15. The official plurality of Carter H. Harrison for Mayor of Chicago was 17,325. The Colorado House has passed a bill providing for a $4,000,000 State bond issue to build a tunnel through the Rocky Mountains for the Mof fat road. The 1,720 cabin and steerage pas sengers of the stranded North Ger man Lloyd steamer Prinzess Irene were transferred to her sister ship, the Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm, by small boats and tugs in five hours and t -n minutes at Ixrae Hill, L. I., Friday. The Prinz Friedrich Wil helm proceeded to New York. There was no panic on board the Irene, and the work of rescue was a feat unparalleled in marine disasters. The congregation of the Fifth Ave nue tsaptist church, of New York I (ity, presented the Rev. Dr. Aked a check for $25,000 upon the eve of his departure for San Francisco to accept the pastorate of the First Congregational church of that wes tern city. Dr. Aked preached his farewell sermon in New York, Sun day morning and left that afternoon for the West in the private car of ! President Lovett of the Harriman | lines. Dr. D. K. Pearson, of Hinsdale, 1 111., will celebrate his ninety-first birthday anniversary April 14 by the distribution of $300,000 to schools and religious organizations. That will make his total distributions of re cent years nearly five million dol lars, most of which has been giv en to small colleges. An Unusual Amount of Painting Done This Spring. "Everything comes to those who hustle while they wait" seems to be the motto adopted by our ener getic merchants, The Cotter Hard ware Co., for they have certainly been hustling this spring. In backing up their excellent adver ! tislng in the columns of The Smith field Herald their handsome window displays have proved most effective. According to present Indication, there will be an unusual amount of paint ing done in Smithfleld, this spring. | That's a sign of prosperity we 're ! very glad to see. This week floor paint is the lead er in their window. How an old scratched floor or a marred bare floor can be given a hard, service able, easily-kept-clean surface Is, clearly shown by the sample they J display. NEGRO KILLED AT CLAYTON. Henry Patterson, Stepping Between Hit Sister and Her Husband, Who Had a Gun Pointed at Her, Ready To Fire, Receives Load in Left Shoulder, Death Resulting. Tom Jones, a negro of Clayton, ! was brought here Tuesday and plac ed in jail, charged with killing his | brother-in-law. The following ac- I count of the affair appeared in Wed nesday's News and Observer: "News reached the city yesterday afternoon of a killing which occurred at Clayton about three o'clock, the victim being Henry Patterson, a young colored man, who was shot through the left shoulder by Torn Jones, his brother-in-law. The tra gedy occurred at the Jones home. "It seems that Jones' wife, whose father is at St. Agnes Hospital, In this city, expressed her intention of coming to Raleigh on the train which arrives at 4:05 o'clock. She was told by her husband, Tom Jones, who is said to be half-witted, that she could not come. She insisted; her husband threatened her. "Jones' wife then sent for her bro ther, Henry Patterson, hoping that he would be able to assist her in getting away from her husband. When the woman's brother arrived on the scene, Jones pointed a gun at her and started to shoot. Patter son stepped between the two and knocked the gun aside, in or der to save his sister's life, but he forfeited his own in doing so, for the gun went off, the load entering his shoulder. "Two physicians were summoned and started to the scene in an auto mobile, but the victim died before they reached him. It was stated yesterday afternoon that Patterson was one of the most trustworthy colored men in Clayton, and that his tragic death was the source of much regret. Just what steps will be taken are not yet known. Jones did not leave the scene after he had shot Patter son." Lawyers Up Front. Senator William Pierson Flero, of Catskill, was seated with others about the enormous fireplace In Keeler's Hotel, Albany, on a cold night, when he told this story: "I remember, thirty years ago, when I was a lawyer, there were about fifteen or eighteen of us?all lawyers?seated about a fireplace much like this. It was a raw, wet night. A bedraggled stranger, wet to the hide, came in, tried to get accommodations and was told there was not a room left. The nearest other place was a mile away. Shi vering, the stranger looked at the fire, but we formed such a solid line about it that he could not get near it. Finally one of the law- | yers, in a spirit of frivolity, turned to him and said: " 'My friend, are you a traveler?' " 'I am, sir. I have been all over the world.' " 'You don't say so! Been in Ger many, Egypt, Japan, and all the countries in Africa and Asia?' " 'All of them?been everywhere.' " 'Even been In hell?' " 'Oh, yes; been there twice.' " 'How did you find things there?' " 'Oh, much the same as here? lawyers all next to the fire.' ? New York Herald. The Telephone. Telephone service suffers from two defects. When the line Is busy there is no way ot finding when it, will be available except to keep call ing. It doubles and triples the work of central for the would-be user to have to make call after call in many cases only to hear "line still busy." Another trouble is occupying the line with idle gossip. The man who pays for a phone for business use is usually bothered by long occu pancy by some other two people who are talking for want of something else to do. Somebody should Invent a way by which one could find out when a busy line is released and may be used and make a fortune out of the Invention. The second trouble is easier remedied. Charge on each call and continue to charge after three minutes.?Charlotte Chronicle. | COCA COLA WINS ITS FIGHT. ^ Government Loses Famous Case, De cided in Favor of the Atlanta ' Sparkling Beverage. Chattanooga, Tenn., April 7.?The ' caBe of the government against "for ty barrels and twenty kegs of coca cola" was decided In favor of the Atlanta beverage In the federal court here yesterday afternoon. In ruling on a motion for peremptory instructions Judge Sanford held that caffeine 1b not an added or deleter ious Ingredient of the beverage. He overruled the motion oil points re lating to the misbranding feature of the allegation, but counsel for the government moved to dismiss, with out prejudice, the case on these points. A verdict was returned in favor of the defense. Federal coun sel entered a motion of appeal to the United States circuit court at Cin cinnati. The coca-cola case has been one of the most important ever tried in the federal court in the south, and the cost of the litigation has been enormous. It is said that $300,000 will not cover the expenses. Doth sides have had experts from all sections of the country, the most eminent scientists, principally chem ists and physicians. The govern ment has spared no expense in the effort to prove its contentions, and the coca-cola people have been equally liberal in securing expert tes timony. ?Champ Clark a Penitent. In the Nbw York Tribune, Worth Harder tells the following interesting incident in the early life of Champ Clark, Speaker of the House of Rep reesntatlves: "Champ's first important work in the state of his choice was as sup erintendent of schools at Louisiana, Mo. It was shortly after taking up these duties that the wrath of the Campbellite Church descended upon the young man. Mr. Clark had been a member of that Church for some time, and was fully aware of the strictness of the Campbellite tenets against dancing. "As principal of the school he made the acquaintance of Miss Gen evieve Bennett, now Mrs. Clark, then one of the teachers in the high school. One day it was announced that the steamer Spread Eagle, with the barge Mamie In tow, would take an excursion party on a trip up the river, and the start of the excursion found Mr. Clark and Miss Bennett among the light-hearted picnickers. "The barge Mamie had a band on board and dancing began soon after the excursion had cleared from the dock. young Mr. Clark soon for- i got all prohibitions in the enthusi asm of the dance, and he danced his way up the river and back without a pin prick to his conscience. The news of the young principal's lapse i from grace preceded him to church the next Sunday. He was summon- < ed before the officers of the church, ' questioned as to his conduct and I forthwith expelled from membership. Considerably upset, he took his seat ' in the back of the church and did some hard thinking during the ser- i mon. i At lis cumuuBion me customary - invitation of the Campbellites was Kiven to all those outside the church ? and to all penitent sinnerB to come forward and take the hand of fel- l lowship and be received into mem- ' bership. Champ came. He walked up the aisle, presented himself as a peni- ! tent one who was outside the folds i of the Church and reached forward for the profered hand of fellowship. There was a putting together of bear's, a short consultation, and then he was received back to all the privileges of membership. It was apparently all that could be done." TWO HUNDRED PERISH IN FIRE. Caught in a Thatched Structure Which Had Only One Exit. j Bombay, B. I., April 9.?Two hun dred men, women and children were burned to death to-night in a fire which destroyed a thatched structure in which they had gathered for a festival. Five hundred persons were in the building when the fire broke out. There was only one esit and an indescribable panic ensued. \NOTHER GREAT MINE HORROR seventy-four toll of death IN SCRANTON. Miners Apparently Could Have es caped If They Had Not Belittled Danger. The Worst Mine Accident That the Lackawanna Valley Ha? Known. Scranton, Penn., April 8.?Seventy lour is the revised total of the toll )? the mine fire at the Pancoast :oliler>, in Throop, yesterday. a :?nvnss of the families of the vie luis shows forty-five widows and 137 orphans. About every other house in the /lilage of Throop, a typical mining lettiement, had crepe on its door, nd in some houses there is more han one body. John Stoyak and lis two sons and cousin lie In a row in his humble home. In one foreigner's house seven children are nade orphans. The eldest is ten rears old. Another foreigner's body >,as taken to a home where one :hlld Is 111 with scarlet fever and mother with typhoid. in tne numDer or victims tnis is ;he worst mine accident that has ev ;r occurred in the I^ackawanna Val ey region, and the worst in the whole anthracite coal fields since he Avondale disaster of September i, 1869, when 110 men lost their live# ay suffocation consequent on the turning of the breaker. Many explanations are offered as o how the Pancoast victims came :o their death, but none of them is is yet generally accepted. One con tributing cause, it is said, was the 'allure of inside mine bosses to rea lize the imminence of danger to the men in the tunnel until it was too late for them to be got out. Familiarity with danger makes the miner contemptuous of it. Fires in mule barns, hoisting engine houses, pump shanties or others of the small flimsy structures inside the mines are of common occurrence, and little heed is paid to them. A "pipe" gang is rushed to the scene, a hose is attached to a main or a "pump" find the blaze is extinguished. Little difficulty, as a rule, attends the right, but sometimes the fire gets beyond control and communicates to props, coal cars and even the coal In the veins. Then the miner sees Janger, and an alarm is given to the men to get out. This is what happened yesterday. The fire started a little after 9 o'clock. Mining operations contin ued until 11 o'clock. It is not known, but variously estimated, that it was well on toward It o'clock when the danger to the men in the tunnel was realized. What Bad Roads Cost. There are 2,151,570 miles of wagon roads in the United States. There are 176,429 miles of improv ed roads in the United States (fac ed with gravel or something super ior). The percentage of Improved high ways is 8.2. Each year 265,000,000 tons of farm ind forest products are hauled to market or to railway stations over American roads. This hauling costs $432,000,000, or 23 cents the mile. It costs only 10 cents the tou the mile to haul freight over an, improv ed road. Therefore, if all our roads were Improved it would mean a saving of $200,000,000 the year In hauling alone. It will cost fully $3,000,000,000 to put all the mud roads in the United States In decent shape?to make them merely good travel roads. This is the richest nation in the world, yet "the poorest, most tax burdened country In Europe" can boast better roads than we have in the United States. Why??Richmond Times-Dispatch. Salvation Army Head Is 82. London, April 10.?Gen. Booth, head of the Salvation Army, celebrat ed his eighty-second birthday to-night by addressing a huge meeting of his followers for an hour. He said he hoped after his coming tour hrough the United States and Canada to have a cataract operated upon in the fall, and that he would then be young again.
The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, N.C.)
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April 14, 1911, edition 1
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