VOLUME 39
SMITHFIELD, N. C., TUESDAY, JULY 27, 1920.
Number 56
IRRIGATED LANDS OF
WEST VERY FERTILI
Did Not Know Full Meaning o
Irrigation—Land to be Irri
gated Almost Level—Water i
Turned in Every Other Row.
(By Dr. R. J. Noble)
ARTICLE III.
In this letter I shall write of irr:
gation and the country from CTnicag
West.
I must admit that I did not kno’
the full meaning of irrigation an
how it was done. In the first plac
their soil is nothing like ours. It i
hard and close. Were one in Johns
ton to draw all the water out of hi
well and pour it over a row of frest
ly plowed corn or cotton, it woul
not run over fifty yards down th£
row much less over hundred yards c
more; but that is what can be dor
out there. The land to be irrigate
is almost perfectly level, or that
the way It looks. The water is tun
ed in every other row and runs dow
that row for a distance of one hui
dred yards or more. Now, how th
water is turned in I cannot say; bi
it is in every other row for some dh
tance along the canal. When th
water enters the row the wet groun
seems to be about one foot wide an
at the other end looks to be about si
inches wide, just a long wet streal
We were told that the next time th
crop needed water, it would be turne
into the rows that were left the firs
time—just as we plow corn and co
ton in dry weather. Wherever irr
gation was used the country blosson
ed like a rose; everything was £
lovely as could be and so prosperoi
looking. There were nine large barr
and all necessary out buildings wit
small dwellings. Very few fruit tret
and the grove around the house w£
of Lambardy Poplars all had bee
planted for they were in rows. Thei
were large fields of sugar beets whic
looked like ruta baga turnips. T1
land was only irrigated for farminj
Not a drop put on land that was nc
cultivated. Right up to the last ro’
planted the sage brush grow. The ot
ly thing that will grow in that cour
try without water. At one stop w
made to let the train ahead of us go o
I asked the flagman to get me a piec
of the sage brush, thinking to brin
it home as a souvenir, which he di<
When I had taken a few whifs of it
was afraid if it got into my suit cas
I would never get the odor out, so
threw it away. It was sage all righ
but aobut twenty times as strong £
any sage I ever smelt. It grows c
the dry land and only on dry lam
It is a brush about eighteen inches 1
three feet high and not thickly set c
the ground. I should think that
good hand with a grass blade coul
clear three or four acres a day. Th
land looked poor; but was not. A
it needed was water. No fertiliz«
is needed. The land will grow anj
thing that can be grfwn in that coui
try if given water.
Now how do they get this water
It is taken from rivers. At the pro;
er place a ditch or canal will be ci
and as the river goes down hill th
canal will be carried on the level,
saw one place that the canal mus
have been ten feet deep as there we
a low place in the ground and the cs
nal must be level or the water woul
not go over the next rise in the lam
This canal was about twelve fe<
wide. In other places the water w£
carried for miles in corrugated iro
pipes about fifteen inches in diamete:
Occasionally there would be a sma
nail hole in the pipe and the wate
would squirt out, some times o* to
showing that the pipe was full,
don’t know whether water could b
gotten with bored or driven pumps
but I noticed when there was irrig£
tion I saw no pumps or windmills.
I cannot say just where I saw th
first snow fence; but think it was i
North Dakota soon after leavin
Grand Forks. The first snow fent
I saw, I did not know what to mak
of it. A fence about six feet hig
right out in the open field. Just on
side of a fence, I thought it ought t
have ends to it; but no ends or th
ether side. Then seeing another fenc
the same way I remembered readin
cf fences to keep snow off the tracl
Then I noticed that the fence w£
always opposite a small cut, or dee
cut. Of course it could only be
snow fence. If these fences were ik
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put near the cuts to catch the snow,
then the snow would drift into the
cut and fill it up. We people in John
ston cannot understand why snow
drifts so, but where the wind has a
clear space of miles to blow in, with
nothing to stop it the snow just rolls
on getting deeper against anything,
so the fence catches snow and it packs
many feet deep. If it went into the
cut ’twould be the same and snow
plows would have to be used to get it
out. Then in the mountains we went
through many snow sheds. They
were built on the sides of the moun
tains and were just like a covered
bridge. These would be for miles at
times, not always long sheds. Some
times these sheds were wide enough
for a side track to be under them. I
suppose they were pass tracks as
there were no stations near. Then
these sheds were to keep rocks from
falling on the track as the side of the
mountains were so straight up that
continued wet spells, that is snows
melting, cause the rocks to fall off.
I thought that the railroad authori
ties also feared that the jar of the
train might loosen the rocks for a
man followed every train that passed
the high side mountains. I noticed
that whenever there was a pile of
cross ties by the side of the road
there was dirt piled on the top of
the pile. This was to keep the hot
sun from cracking the ties. I was
told that a cross tie lasted in that dry
climate from fteen to twenty years.
I saw old ties that had been removed
from the road and all were worn from
one to one and a half inches where
the railroad iron lay on them. It was
a case of wear out, and not rot at the
bottom of the tie. We saw very few
large droves of horses, several droves
of cows, the white-faced Hereford,
and no sheep till we started home.
The hogs were few and far between,
small lots of them and these not look
ing fat and nice. Looked like they
bad not had enough corn.
(To Be Continued.)
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POLAND WANTS U. S. SUPPORT
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Appeal Made to State Department
And President Wilson—Is Under
Consideration.
Washington, July 23.—Poland,
sorely t>eset by the Russian bolshevik
armies, called upon the United States
today for moral support in her now
desperate battle with the soviet forc
es.
Through its legation here, the new
republic not only asked for an ex
pression from the state department,
but also from President Wilson, de
claring that such public statements
would go a long way toward strength
ening the moral of its soldiers and
people.
Poland’s request was given serious
consideration at the state department,
and it was expected a decision would
not be long delayed. Meanwhile offi
cials refrained from discussing it.
Arguments for American support
presented by the Polish legation, set
forth the incongruity of the United
States abandoning the republic with
whose establishments it had so much
to do. Representatives of the lega
tion declared that while the situation
of their country had been made des
perate by the enormous weight of
the Russian forces, it was not yet too
late to avert disaster and that an ex
pression of support and sympathy
by the President would be of great
aid.
BRYAN REFUSES NOMINATION
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Fresh From Fishing _ Trip _ in
Montana, He Reiterates Previous
Position.
Bozeman, Mont., July 22- William
Jennings Eryan tonight reiterated his
refusal to accept the Prohibition par
ty nominal'on.
The fi~st intimation of his nomina
tion for the Presidency by the Prohi
bition convention at Lir -oln, Non., was
received by him at 1 o’clock this af
ternoon at Madison Lake, upon his
return from a forenoon of fishing
when he read an Associated Press dis
patch giving the text of the telegram
sent to him by the convention at Lin
coln. He was forty miles from any
telegraph office at hne time, but as
scon as he reached Norris, Mont., he
telegraphed a reply declining « the
nomination.
s
p A woman gets suspicious when a
a man shaves off his mustache while she
t is away on a visit.
INCOME GOES AHEAD
EXPENSES THIS YEAR
Reduction in Gross Public Debt
Announced—From Peak Of
26 Billion August 31 There Is
Reduction of $2,297,380,180.
Washington, July 25.—The govern
ment’s income for the fiscal year end
ing June 30, exceeded its expenses for
the first time in three years. Secre
tary Houston declared today in a |
statement in which he announced a'
reduction in the gross public debt and j
forecast a further '‘‘important reduc-i
tion” for the coming 12 months.
While the annual operations of the
government showed a sui’plus of $219
221,547, the more important change
treasury oftimals said, was the cut
ting of $1,185,184,692, from the gross
public debt during the year. The na
tional debt aggregated $24 299,821,467
on June 30 and $25,484,506,160, a year
previously, but in the meantime the
obligations of the nation had mounted
to their highest point—$26,596,701,
648, on August 81—due to the opera
tions incident tc the handling of ma
turities of treasury certificates of in
debtedness. Thus, a reduction of $2,
297,380,180 from the peak is shown.
Outside of the transasctions involv
ing the gross debt, treasury receipts
for the year aggregated $6,694,565,
388 while expenditures totalled $6,
403,343,841. The statement revealed,
however, that the surplus was due
largely to a partial liquidation of the
assets of the war finance corporation.
Exclusive of the special income from
that source, there was a deficit of
$71,879,072 in the actual handling of
income and expenditures.—Associat
ed Press.
GOVERNOR ORDERS INQUIRY
Action of Alamance Civil Authorities
Reason for Investigation—Commis
sion of Three Will Conduct Hear
ings.
In view of the action of the coron
er’s jury in Alamance county in de
claring the Durham Machine Gun
Company responsible for the death of
Jim Ray, who was killed Monday
night in Graham, Governor Bickett
yesterday ordered a careful investiga
tion of the conduct of the troops who
were sent to the county in compliance
with a request from county authori
ties to protect three negroes held on
a charge of criminal assault.
Three leading citizens of the State
have been asked by the Governor to
sit on the investigating commission,
but their names are being withheld
until they have indicated their will
ingness to serve. The hearings will
be held as soon as the commission can
be called together. The commission
will visit both Graham, where the
disturbance took place, and Durham,
the home of the troops involved.—
News and Observer, July 23rd.
Negro Watchman Dies to Save Others
Asheville, July 23.—While attempt
ing to stop an automobile with two
white men in it, “Uncle” George
Bradley, the aged negro watchman,
at the Southern Railway crossing at
Biltmore, was knocked under the
train, No. 9, from Spartanburg and
killed, about 3:30 this afternoon.
Seeing the machine bear down on
him in an effort to beat the train
at the crossing, Uncle George stepped
in front of the car in a last effort to
save it from destruction. He met the
same fate that he kept from being
meted out to the others.
The car struck him as he was hold
ing his large “stop” sign above his
head, and threw him backward on the
track just as the engine crossed.
The machine was sideswiped and
dragged several feet but the occupants
were not injured.
Carl Clapp, the driver, was later ar
rested by a deputy sheriff.
Harding Sends Telegram of Sympathy
Marion, O., July 15.—Telegram of
sympathy was sent by Senator and
Mrs. Harding today to Senator Swan
son, of Virginia, whose wife died
Tuesday in Washington.
“We can fairly appraise your deep
sorrow,” said the message, “and wish
we might some way help to lighten
it. We both held Mrs. Swanson in
'iigh esteem and know what a great
loss has attended her untimely going.’
DUDDING MAKES RE
PLY TO GOV. BICKETT
Says His Investigation of Bru
tality Charges in the Road
Camps Already Made—It Is
Too Late to Stop It.
Washington, .July 25.—Earl
Dudding, president of the Prisoners’
Relief society, which organization is
conducting an investigation of condi
tions under which convicts in North
Carolina live and work and their .al
leged mistreatment, came back today
at Governor Thomas W. Biekett.
Washington newspapers gave promi
nent display to the statement issued
last night by Governor Biekett, where
in he said in effect that “outsidrs”
had nothing to dc with North Caro
lina penal affairs and that he would
take all the “cussing” Tar Heels
wanted to give him but wouldn’t take
it from others.
The main trouble about Governor
Bickett’s statement, thinks Mr. Dud
ding. is that it came tco late. The
investigation in North Carolina, Dud
ding says, has already been made and
is not yet to be made public. The re
port of Mrs. Duckett, the society’s
special investigator, is ready for sub
mission to the executive board of the
Prisoners’ Relief society and if com
plaints from North Carolina are
borne out that report will go to the
legislature at its next regular ses
sion.
Mrs. Duckett is now said to be at
Zebulon with her relatives and will
return to Washington shortly and ad
vise Mr. Dud Mr.g of what she saw
and heard in North Carolina about its
convict camps.
Mr. Dudding seemed somewhat hurt
that Governor Eickett had referred to
him as an ex-convict.
“I thought Governor Biekett was a
better lawyer, if not a better sport,”
was the terse and enigmatic comment
of Dudding.
Dudding is an ex-convict and
frankly says he spent several years
in a West Virginia penal institution.
Since his release his entire time has
been devoted to prisoners’ relief
work. His means are small and his
organization is supported by volunta
ry contributions. Most of its activi
ties are given to finding jobs for dis
charged convicts; again prison con
ditions are investigated in all parts
of the country. Dudding has never
hidden the fact that he is an ex-con
vict, but appeared injured today that
Governor Biekett should refer to that
fact in attacking the investigation be
ing made in North Carolina.
Dudding said that Mrs. Duckett’s
report would go to the legislature at
its first regular session if it shows
conditions warranting the attention
of that body. At the same time, he
said, the society would offer sugges
tions for remedying these conditions.
As previously published in the news
dispatches, Dudding explained that
Mrs. Duckett was sent to North Car
olina two weeks ago because of an
“epidemic of complaints” about the
brutal treatment of convicts at some
of the camps in the state. Whom and
what Mrs. Duckett saw during her
two wTeeks in the state is not known
here, but, anyway, Dudding says the
inquiry has already been made and it
’« too late for Governor Biekett or
anyone else to stop it.—Theodore Til
ler in Greensboro News.
SCHOOL REVISION IS URGED
Committee Named by Governor Rec
ommends Big Changes in Public
School System.
That the school system of the state
should be organized on the basis of
the county unit of taxation and ad
ministration, is among the recommen
dations of the report submitted to
day by a committee appointed by
Governor Bickett at the citizens’ con
ference on education, that met at the
North Carolina College for Women
here May 4.
The state should continue to aid the
weaker counties, the report says, by
making the educational opportunities
as nearly equal as possible.
Other recommendations of the com
mittee include:
Adequate facilities for the training
of teachers should be supplied as
quickly as possible by the establish
ment of additional training schools.
The program outlined by the state
superintendent of public instruction
for training teachers at summer nor
mal schools, at summer sessions main
tained by state institutions and de
partments of education attached to
high schools should be adopted until
adequate facilities for the training of
teachers can be provided.
The economic independence of the
public school teachers of the state
should be assured by the payment of
salaries, not merely sufficient for liv
ing expenses, but sufficient for profes
sional training and culture.
The public school teachers of the
state should be employed for the full
vear period with salaries on the 12
month basis. When teachers are thus
employed the problems of illiteracy,
length of school terms, et cetera, will
be readily solved.
The community should provide
comfortable homes for its teachers.
The courses of study in the public
schools should be adapted to the needs
rf the community and the demands of
modern life.
The health of school children should
be properly safeguarded; every chil l
should have a thorough physical ex
amination twice each year and this
should be supplemented by physical
education.
The public school should, wherever
feasible, be utilized as the educational,
social, and recreational center of the
community.
An efficient and well-trained man
or woman should be at the head of
the school system of each county, and
this office should be supplied with as
sistants for school supervision as the
need arises.
The state of North Carolina faces
a real emergnecy in higher education.
The institutions of higher learning
are utterly inadequate to meet the de
mands of the young men and young
women who ask for admission. Pro
vision for enlarging and strengthen
ing all of the institutions of higher
learning in the state should be made
at once.—Greensboro dispatch to Wil
mington Star.
LABOR ENDORSES CONG. POU.
Rumors That Congressman Pou Had
Been Put On Black List Denied
By Gompers.
Washington, July 22.—Organized
labor, speaking through President
Samuel Gompers, said today that there
was no truth in the report that Con
gressman Edward W. Pou has been
put on the black list in North Caro
lina. Rumors have been rife about
the Capital for some time to the ef
fect that labor was out for the scalp
of several candidates for office in
North Carolina and that Congressman
Pou headed the list.
Like the death of Mark Twain, the
report seems to have been exagger
ated. Labor did take a hand in the
primary contests in the State and is
taking to itself some of the credit for
the defeat cf Max Gardner, Hannibal
L. Godwin, John H. Small and Charles
L. Abemethy. Messrs. Gardner and
Godwin drew more punishment than
the other two, in whose cases the ac
tivity of labor was incidental.
It is often said that labor would
like to gett he scalp of Representa
tive Claude Kitchen but about the only
chance it has to make a dent in the
Kitchin stronghold is to put out a
strictly labor candidate.
One. of the reported grievances
against Mr. Pou seems to have been
his vote against the Esch-Cummins
railroad bill. Mr. Pou would not vote
for this measure until after the anti
strike provision was eliminated be
cause he believed it an unconstitution
al clause. So far as labor has been
able to check him up, it has express
ed satisfaction with his nineteen
years of service in the House.
The fourth district member left for
Smithfield today. He will remain
in the district for a month and wall
return in August to join with Repre
sentative Hal Flood in mapping out
the program for the Democratic con
gressional campaign committee this
fall. He will make several speeches
in the State w’hen the weather gets a
little cooler.—R. E. Powell, in News
and Observer.
When you hear a woman has edu
cated her husband, it may pierely be
meant that she has been giving hirr
“pieces cf her mind” at various inter
vals.
You never realize how many men
there are out of work until you start
to do some outdoor job that is a little
difficult of perfc: mrnce.
rEACHER SHORTAGE IS
GETTING WORSE DAILY
Educational Chiefs at Chapel
Hill Say It Is Serious and Will
Be More So—Teachers Are
Hard to Find.
Chapel Hill, July 23.—Officials of
the University cf North Carolina
summer school are unanimous in the
opinion that the teacher shortage in
the state is more serious than it has
ever been and is getting worse every
day.
“It is a critical situation and far
worse than I have ever seen it before,’
s;>i 1 Prof. N. W. Walker, director of
the summer school, here today. “In
the end I suppose the, cities and coun
ties with most money will fill their
positions, but I see no hope for fill
ing all the teaching positions in the
rural schools. Last year thei'e were
700 vacancies; this year apparently
there are going to be many more va
cancies. That means that mere than
700 schools in the state will be with
out teachers and will have to close.
This takes no account of the large
number of teachers at work in the
schools in the state who cannot meas
ure up to the minimum standard sat
by the state department ol education.
Many of them are not lit to teach*
but superintendents have to hire them
because they cannot get anyone else.’
Since the university summer school
opened, June 22, a steady stream of
county and city superintendents has
been pouring into Chapel Hill look
ing for teachers.
“We nave had an average of eight
superintendents a day for the past
three weeks,” said Henry B. Marrow*
director of the teachers’ bureau con
ducted by the summer school. “One
day 14 superintendents were here
looking for teachers. One of them!
said he needed 200 teachers, another
was looking for 100 and nearly all of
them needed at least 10. We have
had delegations from county school
boards here and some counties keep
scouts in the summer school the
whole term, spending a great part of
their time looking for teachers.”
“Are they finding any teachers?"
“Not many,” Mr. Marrow replied.
“Most of the better teachers have al
ready made engagements for next
year and others are holding off in the
hope of getting more money.
“There has been a remarkable
change in the work of the teachers'
bureau since, say, 1917,” continued
Mr. Marrow. “Formerly a superin
tendent looking for teachers had
plenty of applications. Now he has
virtually none and has to scout around
and find them instead of their look
ing for him. And he has difficulty in
hiring them after he has found them."
He agreed with Mr. Walker that
the greatest trouble was in the rural
schools. The higher pay that cities
and towns can give, together with
their marked social advantages over
the country districts, Pal0 che rural
districts at a distinct disadvantage.
Many of the big city schools can pay
up to $1,800 to $2,000 and occasion
ally higher than that, whereas the
small country schools, some of them
one-teacher schools, are simply out
classed. They can’t compete with
such salaries with the money they
have available and they are losing
out.
“The only solution is consolida
tion,” said Professor Walker. “If sev
eral small schools are thrown togeth
er into one large school, more money
becomes available and obvious social
advantages are gained. But the pres
ent situation is almost desperate.”—
Greensboro News.
Prominent Episcopal Rector is Dead.
Washington, July 15.—Dr. Ran
dolph Harrison McKim, pastor of
Epiphany Episcopal church here since
1889 and author cf numerous works
on theology, died today at Bedford
Springs, Pa. Bern in Baltimore in
1842, Dr. McKim served in the Con
federate army throughout the war be
tween the states.
During his Washington rectorship
Dr. McKim has had as members of
his congregations many cabinet mem
bers and other high government offi
cials. Prior to coming to Washington
he served as rector of churches in
Baltimore, Portsmouth, Va., Harlem, n
N. Y., and New Orleans. «
35-- I
Virtue is a fault with some people. |