North Carolina Newspapers

m VOLUME 37. SMITH FIELD, N. C., FEBRUARY 12, 191S. Number 13. SMITHFIELD MAKES PROGRESS. During Year 1?1 7 the Town Paved Eleven Blocks in Sheet Asphalt and Laid Four Miles of Granolithic Side Walks Besides Other Improve ments. More Than Eighty Thous and Dollars Spent In These Per manent Improvements. The year 1917 has proved to be the greatest year that Smithfield ever witnessed from many standpoints. There was more business done here last year than in any year of the town's history. There was more money paid out here for cotton; there was more money turned loose here for tobacco; there was more prosperity abounding in the old town than in any previous year. The banks and the business houses were all prosperous. Every business thrived and the end of the year saw Smithfield in better condition than ever. Early last year there was an agita tion here for somb paved streets. Meetings were held and the proposi tion explained. Soon some definite steps were taktn with the result that the City Fathers decided to undertake the paving of five blocks with sheet asphalt. This step was taken while Mr. J. W, Stephenson was Mayor. At the election in May Mr. H. L. Skinner and a new Board of Aldermen were chosen. This Board took up the work of the old Board and carried on the work they had begun. The first con tracts were let counting up a cost of more than thirty thousand dollars to ? the town. But before the work of paving was fully begun additional blocks were added to the contract until a total of eleven blocks were included. Then the paving of many of the side walks was taken up and added to until four miles were placed on the improve ment list. The Quanqua (or Conker) Ditch was filled in with a 24-inch terra cotta pipe from Third street to nearly to the river, making an improvement that was much needed. In addition to tlic streets paved three blocks were improved by putting in curbing and cement gutters. The entire cost of all these im provements has been a fraction over $80,000 as will be seen from the finan cial statement issued by the Building Committee and published elsewhere in this paper. A bond issue of $70,000 was floated and the remainder of the debt covered by the town's short term notes. On all street paving the cost is divided between the town and the peo ple owning property abutting on the streets, the town paying one-third and the property owners the other two-thirds. The property owners bear half the expenses of the side walks. The improvemertts have been of great value to the town this winter. Those who saw the conditions of the streets last winter and then again this winter in the face of the worst weather we have ever had were favorably struck with the wonderful improvements here. Last year we could hardly cross the streets in the business part of the town for the mud. Not so this year. When the roads all around Smithfield were kneedeep in mud and slush the paved streets were just as good as they will be in the dry summer days. Every body seems well pelased with what has been done and the only people who find much fault with the situa tion are those who have not paved streets in front of their homes. ^The system of p.ived side walks is worth more in some respects than the paved streets. The plan adopted put a paved side walk in eafcy reach of every citizen of the town. No one has to walk much further than one block to get on a paved side walk leading to the business part of the town, the churches and the graded school. It has proven of great value to the school children in getting to and from school this winter. Now that the work is done and all see the great worth of it the City Fathers are to be congratulated that they had the courage to get out of the beaten paths and build a system of streets and side walks that the years to come will prove the wisdom of their action. Stockholders to Meet Today. The annual meeting of the Stock holders of the Johnston County Bank & Trust Company will be held this afternoon at 2:10 o'clock in the offices of the bank on Market street. NO MORE HEATLEttf MONDAYS. Fuel Adiministrator Garfield lias Lifted the Ban In Eight Southern States and the Order May Ite Sus pended In Other Parts of the Coun try This Week. The eight Southern States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisi ana and Tennessee, had the heatless Monday order lifted the latter part of last week and the people of these States were open for business yester day as usual. The weather conditions were so much improved that the step was made possible. The great improvement in the weather conditions will lift the order from the other Eastern States is con fidently believed. There has been a great improvement in traffic condi tions and it is now thought that it is not necessary to continue the heatless Mondays in any part of the country. The order for closing on Mondays brought about four heatless Mondays in the Southern States and five in the other States affected by the ruling of the Fuel Administrator. FALSE REPORT ABOUT TOBACCO Congressman Small Made Investiga ? tion and Found That There Was No Basis for Report. In the letter of S. R .Winters, of Washington City, in Sunday's News and Observer, we find the following, which is of interest to our Johnston County people at this time. "The farmers of Pitt and adjoining counties have become somewhat per turbed over a false report that has gained currency in the tobacco grow ing regions of North Carolina that their acreage would be curtailed by the government. Representative John H. Small has received perhaps a dozen letters inquiring into the basis for the report. This letter from R. C. Cannon, a farmer merchant of Ayden, Pitt County, is typical of the inquirers. "It has been reported in this com munity that the tobacco crop is to be limited by the government to a cer tain number of acres per horse, and also that a tax per acre is to be placed on same." "The falsity of the report is ap parent on its face, but Representative Small inquired as to such a measure and found that there is no basis for the report. The ways and means committee doesn't even contemplate such legislation." Death of Rufus Bell. " Death loves a shining mark." The above statement seems only too true, when death claimed Rufus Bell, on January 30th. Born September 17, 1895, he was only twenty-two years old. He was sick only four days. Late Saturday afternoon, he got a shave, the barber clipping a bump on his face which caused him trouble at once, though not serious. Early Monday morning he was swol len to such an extent that the family physician was called. The doctor pronounced blood poison. Another doctor, however, was called in, and a nurse secured. His relatives and friends gathered round him to lend a helping hand. He was a good young man, having joined the Fere- Will Baptist church at friendship in September, 1912. He was attentive to his church and its needs. He had also joined the Juniors just three weeks before he died. On May 5, 1917, he was married to Miss Doris Oneal, and being married only a short while had never moved away from his mother's home. His father died when he was only eight years old, and as he grew to man hood he became as a father for the family. Assisted by others of the family he worked out and paid for a splendid estate. He leaves a wife, a mother, a sister, one brother and an aged grandmother besides other rela tives to mourn their loss. The funeral service was conducted by his pastor, Elder B. B. Deans, and he was laid to rest in the Friendship cemetery under the auspices of the Junior Order. ? L. S. He Knew. Frank was in school when the teacher said: "Who knows what the five senses are?" Frank raised his hand and said: "Nickels." ? Galveston News. AT THE CAPITAL OF BOON IIILL. Robbers Break Into Ed. A. Holt's Store and Secure Four Hundred Dollars Worth of Goods. Same Store Entered Nearly Three Weeks Ago. A Former Robbery In Prince ton Recalled. Princeton, Feb. 8. ? Miss Jeanette Woodcrd is spending the week with her sister, Mrs Will W right. Mr. A. F. Holt made a trip to Camp Jackson, Columbia, S. C., a few days ago to visit his son, N. G. Holt. Miss Evelyn Humble, from Elon College, is spending the week with her sister, Mrs. C. W. Eason. Mr. L. D. Grantham has' been spending several days in Philadelphia and other northern cities. Mrs. James Sanders is visiting re latives and friends in Smithfield for a few days. ? Dr. B. L. Aycock, our popular den tist, has gone to Raleigh to be as signed to some branch of Uncle Sam's service. The store of Mr. Ed. A. Holt was burglarized again last night. This being the second time within two weeks. The robbers entered by break ing out the plate glass in the front door. They also broke the large brass lock all to pieces on the door. They secured about ten suits of men's clothes and six suit cases, a hundred dollars worth of jewelry and a great many other things, amounting in all to about four hundred dollars. Tele phone messages were sent this morn ing to every place where it was thought possible to secure blood hounds. Every effort is being made at this hour to get them from a long distance. These same robbers (four of them) also went into the Central Highway Garage and secured a lot of tools, and several of these were left in Ed. Holt's store. They left a cap and a pair of old shoes at the store. ? On January 21st robbers entered this same store and carried away about four hundred dollars worth of goods. On the night of this robbery it snowed and sleeted all night, which made it very difficult to track any one. A detective was soon on the scene, but the robbers did the job so cleverly and covered up their tracks so completely nothing was done. The Southern Railway Depot was robbed in this first haul and several boxes of goods which were in the warehouse were broken open, but only a few articles were taken out. Only a few years ago Princeton had a series of robberies, and one night they entered a store in which a young man was sleeping. This young man heard them break the glass and upon looking closely saw a man nearly in the center of the store, which was dark. The young man sitting on the side of r. cot which he had been sleep ing on, and from this position he fired two shots at the burglar, and evidently one load entered the darkey. A few days later there was a dead negro in a small town some miles from here, and it was said his back was full of shot, and he was a Prince ton negro. He would not have an\ doctor attend him for fear of being caught, and his death was reall> caused by pneumonia, brought on by these gun shot woflnds which were neglected. COLONEL ROOSEVELT BETTER. Former President Underwent Opera- I tion Last Week and for Few Days j His Condition Was Regarded As Serious. The people of the country regard less of political affiliation will be glad to learn that Colonel Theodore Roose velt, former President of the United States, is steadily improving. Last week, the Colonel underwent a seri?us operation and for two or three days his condition was alarming. His phy sicians now think that his complete recovery is only a matter of time. Mrs. Roosevelt on Sunday received the following cablegram from King George of England: "The Queen and I regret the illness of Colonel Roosevelt and hope for his speedy recovery." American Soldiers Efficient. A French officer who has just ar rived in this country gives the warm eat praise of the efficiency of the American soldiers in France in hand ling the big: French 75 millimeter guns. One squad of four men were able to fire thirty rounds per minute. NAMK8 OF MANY YET MISSING. Of (he Soldiers of the I'nited States NN ho Embarked on the Tuscania the Names of 1,832 Survivors Have Been Received by the >Var Depart ment. The Names of 345 Still Missing Sunday. The following news concerning the , sinking of the Tuscania was published ( in an Associated Press dispatch from Washington in yesterday's daily pa pers: Eighteen hundred and thirty-two < names of American soldiers rescued , from the torpedo ad liner Tuscania had been reported Sunday to the war department, leaving 345 of the sol diers on board unaccounted for. No official report has reached the depart ment to change the estimate that all except 113 of the men were saved, but the names have been coming in very slowly over the cables and there is no assurance as to when the list will be complete. From the names so far received and the passenger list of the lost steamer the Associated Press has compiled the record of those still not reported. Probably more than two hundred of the men whose names appear on this record are safe in Ireland and will be so reported soon. The preparation of the list, even in its incomplete form, represents an aggregate of one hundred and forty hours of labor. The war department has only issued an official roll of those on the ship. The committee on pub lic information has made no effort to compile a list of the missing, merely issuing lists of survivors. In order to compile a list of missing and unre ported, it was necessary to search ?for each name in both lists, a labori ous process in dealing with more than 2,000 names. . Unsettled Market for Cotton, L ? ? Measured by the striking fluctua tions of a few weeks ago, price move ments in cotton have continued com paratively moderate, and pains of 35 to 50 points in futures -and 50 in the spot article here represent the week's net alterations. But while the changes have not been especially im portant, and though last week's low est quotations were not repeated, the market has remained unsettled and many people have considered the lack of sustained firmness significant. The best prices of the week were reached on the resumption of business on Tuesday, when the March delivery sold up to 30.65c., May at an even 30.00c., July at 29.54c. and October at 28.15c., but there was a subsequent reaction of about 55 points and the option list is still 150 to fully 200 points, the latter and the more distant positions, under the high records of early January. Similarly, the local spot quotation continues much below the top level touched soon after the year opened, the prevailing figure of 31.70c. comparing with 33.30c. on January 9. As an important factor operating against sustained strength in cotton prices, there has been the continued apprehension of government price control, which was apparently made more real by the restrictions imposed on coffee trading this week. It is pointed out that the official regulation of commodity markets is spreading, and the possibility of cotton being included in the list of articles which have come under Federal supervision seems to act as a check to aggressive speculation for higher prices. Also, the continuance of the Monday holi day over another week, with its con sequent interruption of industrial activities, has affected sentiment ad versely, and the report of the sinking of the Tuscania somewhat accentu ated the bearish feeling. As to new crop prospects, rising temperatures and rains in some sections of the belt were welcomed as tending to put the soil in good shape in advance of planting operations, and some esti mates of the probable acreage 'nave run up to 40,000,000 acres. On the other hand, good trade buying has invariably made its appearance on any material recession in prices, and it is considered significant that most holders of the actual stapl<j in the South are not disposed to sell, except at their own figures. ? Dun's Review. Conservation. He ? Will you meet me this after noon for a little chat, dear? She ? No, Harold; this is one of my meatless days. ? Baltimore Ameri can. HOME GUARD ORGANIZED HERE With O. I*. Dickerson Captain and E. F. ^ ard First Lieutenant. Nearly Fill} Men in the Company. Town Has Granted the Guard the Use ot the Opera House to Drill In. On Friday night, February 1st, the Smithrield company of the Home Guard, known as the :52nd Company North Carolina Infantry, was organ ized here with a goodly number of ritirens as members. The company is composed of the following officers a id mon* Captain ? O. P. Dickerson. First Lieutenant ? E. F. Ward. Second Lieutenant ? W. M. Vnnn. First Sergeant ? J. A. Massey. Second Sergeant ? E. P. Lore. Third Sergeant ? C. B. Register. Fourth Sergeant ? J. L. Scotton. Fifth Sergeant ? J. E. Mahler. Supply Sergeant ? M. A. Wallace. Mess Sergeant ? W. M. Grantham. Musician ? W. L. Ellis. Artificers ? W. S. Peterson and B. W. Sugg. Chaplain ? H. F. Brinson. Corporals ? L. G. Stevens, E. J. Wellons, L. E. Sanders, J. 1). Stephen son and A. M. Noble. Privates ? Ira W. Keen, D. W. Par rish, P. E. Whitehead, E. J. Sasser, G. C. Phillips, R. C. Gillett, L. L. Ennis, G. II. Davis, W. II. Johnson, II. L. Graves, Jr., L. H. Sasser, D. F. Sellers, S. A. Moore, J. C. Winstead, S. H. Massey, M. L. Adams, J. G. Hamilton, H. I. Ogburn, (Jhas. A. Creech, P. B. Creech, C. F. Gordon, N. M. J.awrence, S. H. Stallings, G. D. Barbour, W. II. Lassiter, J. II. Abell, and C. E. Higgins. The Town Officials have granted the company the use of the Opera House to drill in during the evenings. Drills are being held every Friday night. The men are beginning to take a live ly interest in the drill work and Smithfield expects to have soon a good company ready for any emer gency. It is hoped that they can get uniforms sometimes soon. When they get these they will feel more like soldiers. GOOD MEETING LAST NIGHT. Enthusiastic Gathering In Court House. War Savings Stamps Cam paign Getting Well Under Way. A good crowd gathered in the court house last night to consider the War Savings Stamps campaign. The meet ing was presided over by County Chairman T. S. Ragsdale. Rev. S.' A. Cotton led in prayer and several of those present were called on for short talks. Among those who re sponded we note Mr. W. W. Cole, Rev. S. A. Cotton, Supt. H. B. Marrow, Judge F. H. Brooks and others. The matter was presented to the audience in its different phases and much en thusiasm prevailed. Supt. Marrow made a good report from the Turlington Graded School. Other reports came in. The Boy Scouts reported pledges for Stamps to the amount of $735 for the day. The pledges of the day and night amounted $3,012. If all the town^ in the county made as good a start as Smithfield made last night, the campaign is now well on the way. At the conclusion of the discussion on the War Savings plan, Judge Brooks, on behalf of the Red Cross Chapter, made an appeal for aid for the sufferers at Atlantic, the little town which was tornado-swept a few weeks ago, and a cas^i collection of $18.72 was taken. Then Mr. Morton W. Stephens, representing the War Departtnent Commission on Training Camp Ac tivities in Community Organization, was presented to the audience. He made a short but enthusiastic speech appealing for aid in providing clean and wholesome recreation for the boys when outside the caihps. War Costing Billions of Dollars. .The latest figures available from tne Secretary of the Treasury indi cate that the first year of the war will cost the United States about ten bil lion dollars. The first ten months have cost seven billions, or nearly $24,000,000 a day. The cost is in creasing at the rate of about $100, 000,000 per month. Of the amount of the first year's cost about half of it will be in the loans made to our allies. HUNS BRUTAL TO ITALIANS. Sworn Reports From .Many Sources Reveal German Kultur At Its Best. Prisoners Starving and Badly Treated. Italians Treated Worse Than British Prisoners. Reuter's Limited, says a London dispatch in Monday's dailies, has re ceived sworn statements from British soldiers who have returned from Ger man prison camps and hospitals which reveal systematic brutality practiced on Italian prisoners. These reports come from a dozen different sources and have been confirmed by independent testimony. The soldiers who bring this news were released from prison camps about a month ago. German Kultur in these camps has reached a high state. From the re pots of these released prisoners it seems that the German .sentries took special delight in striking the Italian prisoners with swords and ride butts. The Italians were famished and the report says that one band of prison ers were marched for fifteen days and given only three meals in that time. One witness said that three or four weeks before he left Dulmen two or three Italian prisoners arrived there. All of them were virtually starved. "I saw a German sentry draw his bayonet against these men and beat them," said this witness. In Sassel it is reported that the Italians are treat ed worse than the British, being pushed about or struck by German corporals. At Mannheim the same brutality is regularly practiced. One witness said the Italians nlshed madly for the food and some of them were baoyneted. The Germans, this report said, were giving them only half rations. At Munstey it was testified the be havior of the Germans to the Italians had become much worse sir. e the re cent large capture of Italians. These men have one ration of soup and bread daily. Similar conditions prevail at Zar bst, Anhalt, where Italian prisoners after five days' journey without food were driven back by the Germans with drawn swords as they were going to get their soup allowance. OUR SOLDIERS BEHAVE WELL. Major In Command of Troops on the Tuscania Says His Men Acted Ad mirably Under the Stress. A dispatch sent from a port in Ire land and published in Sunday's dailies says that a Major from Washington who was in command of the Ameri can soldiers on the Tuscania, said in speaking of the terrible disaster: "If they behave as well in France as they did on the Tuscania there is no doubt about the outcome of this war." Too much praise cannot be heaped upon them for their calmness- in the face of disaster at sea which two thirds of them had never seen before. A remarkable experience in the di^ aster was had by a Georgia private who was confined to b?d with pneu monia. when the torpedo struck the Tuscania. The Georgian rushed on deck clad only in a union suit. An other soldier gave up his coat to cover the sick man who was lowered into a lifeboat and soon found himself on a trawler where he sat on a windswept deck for hours. When he was landed here he felt so fully recovered from his illness that he could not be in duced to go to the hospital. GERMANS AITER AMERICANS. Reported That They Ambushed Ten and Got Nine of Them. An Associated Press dispatch dated Saturday and sent from the Ameri can Army in France says that five Americans were probably killed, four missing and one wounded when an American patrol was ambushed by the Germans in No Man's Land Fri day night. Only one American is known to have escaped from the trap laid in front of the American wires. The one survivor crawled back to camp badly wounded in the chest and is unable to speak. Our artillery immediately laid a barrage around the ambushing Ger mans and some are believed to 'nave been accounted for. The infantry ac counted for others, as it is certain the attacked patrol fought to a finish, according to information trickling in from the front line.