VOLUME 41 SM1THFIELD, N. C., TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 1922 NUMBER 20 N. C. FARM LANDS AVERAGE $56 ACRE Corn, Wheat, and Oat Crop for the State; Consume Wheat Crop at Home RALEIGH, N. C., March 13.—Al though the price of corn in North Carolina is reported, on an average, higher than any other state, accord ing to the report just released by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, there are many farmers who experi ence difficulties in finding a market close by for their corn. There is 48 per cent of the 1921 corn cron still on the farms in this state, amount ing to 23,(542,000 bushels, including corn held for seed. Of the 49,254, 000 bushels produced last year, 85 per cent, or about 41,865,900 bushels were reported as of a merchantable quality. Drought and a reduction in the use of fertilizer were factors in reducing the yield. North Carolina wheat is largely consumed at home as is evidenced by the small amount (2 per cent) which is shipped as grain, out of the produc ing counties. This is by far the low est percentage shown by any state. Last year, we produced 4,500,000 bushels of wheat, and of th:s quan tity, 22 per cent or 990,000 bushels were still on the farms March 1st, 1922 as compared to 33 per cent in j 1921, 20 per cent in 1920, and a 10 year average of 25 per cent. As with j corn, the average price of wheat ($1.52) is reported as higher in North Carolina than any other state in the union. The 131,136,000 bushels of wheat on farms in the United States March 1st was 16.5 per cent of the 1921 crop as compared to 26.1 per cent of the 1920 crop on farms March 1, 1921. The amount shipped out of the coun ties where grown, will be about 61.6 per cent compared to 58.9 pei* cent shipped out last year. Of the 3,060,000 bushel crop of oats produced in this state in 1921, about 17 per e#nt, or 520,200 bushels re mained on farms March 1st of this year, against 18 per cent of the 1920 crop on hand March 1, 1921. Only 1 per cent will be shipped out of the producing counties, which is about the same as for the 1920 crop. Of the Nation’s oat crop, 21.1 per cent, or about 40,950,000 bushels re mained on farms March 1, 1922 com pared to 34.5 per cent at that time for the preceeding year About 36.1 per cent will be shipped out of the counties where grown. The reported value of the different types of farm lands in North Caro lina shows a marked decline since last year, when every thing was ad justing itself under the new valua tion system. On March 1st, 1921, the average value per acre of poor plow lands was about $36.00. This year, the same is valued at about $33, and good plow lands, which in 1921 averaged $76.00 per acre, this year are valued at about $67.00. The av erage value of all plow lands in the state this year is $49.00 per acre. In 1921, $59.00 per acre for all farm lands including lands with im- ! provements, etc., was considered a reasonable price by farmers. This year, the same land, with improve ments, is valued at $56.00 per acre, while the value of all farm lands with out improvements is about $41.00 per acre. Farms seldom rent for cash in North Carolina, but, as reported, a cash rent of $5.00 per acre for farms is considered a fair return where the value per acre of the land aver ages $46.00. Plow lands, valued at about $52.00 an acre rent for about $8.00. The usual rental for all farm lands however is a proportional share of the crop produced. Where cash rent is paid for pasture or grazing lands, $2.25 per acre is considered a reasonable price in this state and pasture land is valued at about $30.00 per acre. Borrowing Trouble. The teacher was talking of Niagara Falls. “The falls are slowly wearing back toward Buffalo, and in the course of some two hundred thou sand years they will wash away Erie.”' One of the girls in the classroom began to cry and the teacher asked what the trouble was. “Oh,” wailed the girl, ‘my sister Jives in Erie!”—The Uplift STATE S. S. CONVENTION IN APR. Charlotte Is the Place of Meeting; Special Rates on Railroad Will Be Given. Sunday School workers jf Char lotte are completing plans for en tertainment of the hundreds of visi tors who will be in thc.t city April 11-12-13, attending the State Sunday School Convenion, accordhig to in formation received from headquar ters of the North Carolina Sunday SchocJ Association in Raleigh. Superintendent D. W. Sims, of the State Sunday School Association, has been in Charlotte several times in the past few weeks conferring with the Chairman of the various commit tees. Mr. W. E. Price, President of the Mecklenburg County Sunday School Association and Superintend ent of Knox Presbyterian Sunday School, is Chairman of the General Committee on Arrangements. Associated with Mr. Price on the General Corryjiittee are the Chairmen of five sub-committees who are as follows: Finance committee, Capt. T. S. Franklin, Superintendent of First Baptist Sunday School; En tertainment Committee, Mr. Lloyd Ranson, Executive Secretary of the Tryon Street Methodist Sunday School; Hall Committee, Mr. Boyce M. Brown, Superintendent of First A. R. P. Sunday School and Secretary of Mecklenburg County Sunday School Association; Parade Commit tee, Mr. S. W. Dandridge; Local Pub licity, Mr, E. R. Bucher, Superintend ent Trinity Methodist Sunday school. Meeting of the Entertainment Com mittee will be held on Friday night, March 17th, at which time, workers from practically every Sunday School in the city will be present. The work of the committee in securing homes for the out-of-town delegates will be launched at this meeting. The plan is for all who attend to pay for their own entertainment. The local com mittee will provide entertainment for the delegates in the private homes of Charlotte on the Harvard Plan— lodging and breakfast—at the rate of $1.00 per night. • All white Sunday Schools in the State are requested to send three delegates besides the pastor and sup erintendent who are delegates by vir tue of their office. In addition to these, many officers of County Sun day School Associations will attend as official delegates. It is also ex pected that numerous Sunday /chool workers of the state, whether ap pointed as official delegates or not, will be in Charlotte for the Conven tion, as the sessions are open and free to any Sunday School worker in the State. The Charlotte Commit tee is planing to have sufficient num ber of homes for all who attend. The railroads of the state have granted a special reduced rate of one and one-half, certificate plan, provid ed as many as 350 certificates are presented for validation. The com mittee in charge is urging all who go to Charlotte by rail to be sure and get certificate receipt when purchas ing ticket to Charlotte as the certifi cate will have a cash value of one half the return fare. More than thirty of North Caro lina’s leading Sunday School work ers of all denominations will take part on the program of the conven tion. In addition to these six special ists of national reputation have been secured. These specialists will not only speak several times during . the convention but will also take care of the various sectional conferences ar ranged for the Children’s, Young Peo ple’s, Adult and Administrative workers. The out of state specialists secured are—Dr. Plato T. Durham, Atlanta, Ga., Dr. H. E. Tralle, Philadelphia, Pa., Miss Anna Branch Binford, Richmond, Va., Rev. E. W. Hnipenny, Chicago, 111., Prof. Hard! F. Hum bert, Boston, Mas?., and Mr,. Maud J. Baldwin, Clr'cago. 11! Death Near Smithfield. Mrs. Nancy Benson died on Thurs day of last week at the home of he* grandson, Mr. H. B. Adams who lives on the J. D. Boyett farm between here and Selma. She lacked only a little time of being 85 years old. She had been a member of Corinth Meth odist church for many years. The burial took place last Friday in the Webb graveyard at Piney Grove Free Will Baptist church near Four Oaks. POTATO STORAGE HOUSE BE BUILT Potato Growers Organized Ass’n Here Saturday; Selma Will Act Friday By S. J. KIRBY. Farmers living in the vicinities of Selma and Smithfield are making real preparation for living under boll weevil conditions by putting in a few acres each, of sweet potatoes as a substitute money crop. It is alto gether probable that a storage house will be erected at each of these points to provide storage capacity for at least enough potatoes to supply the local markets. The Smithfield people will build a five or six thousand bushel house so arranged as to make it easily possible to add on to the capacity in the fu ture should the conditions make it necessary. The potato growers of this viciniy met in Smithfield last Saturday and started on the work of organizing themselves into a grow ers’ cooperative association. Several of the leading farmers in this com munity are putting in fi'om one to three acres each to go through the association. Many of the men have already placed their orders with the county agent for bedding stock that is known to be free from disease and true to variety type. The Smithfield Association has already gone far enough to make it a sure go. Farmers in the vicinity of Selma are to meet in the office of the Cham ber of Commerce on next Friday night at 7 o’clock to consider and to take definite action on the proposi tion. Most of the leading men of Selma are solidly behind the plan, and if the farmers come up with their end of it, Selma will have a market for one of the most profitable crops grown in this section. It is generally conceded that most people can grow sweet potatoes, but to grow marketable sweet potatoes is different. Too many people fail to realize the importance of quality. We can get quality only by using di sease-free stock, the best methods of production and a storage house which will insure our ability to keep the crop indefinitely in an A-l condition. An illustration on the value of qual ity is found on one of the local mar kets in this county. Hill potatoes on this market are be.ing offered by the grocerymen at 30 or 35 cents per peck and storage house potatoes at 60 cents per peck. The trade de mands that storage house potatoes not only because they are guaran teed to be sound, but because they are actually better. When growing an article for market, we must con sider the wishes of the^trade. Speaking of the boll weevil, the public generally entertains considera ble antipathy toward accepting the fact that the boll weevil is here and that he is going to make cotton pro duction a great deal more of an un certainty than it has been in the past. At least the farmers and business men have not really grasped the situ ation as to the severity of the prob lem with which we must deal. We expect some damage from this cotton pest in 1922 and in all probability the least damage that we can possibly expect to 1923 crop will be from 20 to 30 per cent. A 20 to 30 per cent loss is far greater than the margin of profit on the last several crops. To get our loss reduced to 20 to 30 per cent means that we must use the very best varieties, the most improv ed methods of culture and fertiliza tion, and furthermore that we must spray the cotton crop several times during the season. It is also pre supposed that the crops will be rotat ed, that acreage will be reduced to a point which Will facilitate the best and most progressive methods in production. If these conditions are not met, we may expect a loss to the crop of from 30 to 90 per cent. Let this be the year when we put our selves in condition to live at home and to materially reduce the cost of production. League Prayer Service. Tuesday evening at 7 o’clock, a short prayer service will be held by the Epworth League in the League room. This will be just prior to the evening service to be conducted by Mrs. Steidley. MARCH TERM OF COURT IN SESSION Judge Thomas H. Calvert Is Presiding; Many Cases To Be Tried The March term of the Johnston Superior Court, Criminal, opened for a week’s session on Monday, March 13, with Judge Thomas H. Calvert presiding. The following men were empan nelled and sworn as the grand jury with J. A. Wilson, of Wilson’s Mills, as Foreman, W\ D. Avera, Z. I?. Hill, A. J. Fitzgerald, J. E. Talton, J. D, Hamilton, J. J. Broadhurst, D. C. Smith, Emmette Aadms, L. F. Aus tin, Victor Austin, Ellington Tart, R. T. Hudson, B. N. Hamilton, D. A. Holland, E. S. Lassiter and H. V. Brady. The iuge’s charge to the grand jury was brief but enough to the point that it called attention to the following duties: To visit the Coun ty Home and other places of charita ble and penal nature for an investi gation; to ascertain the number of orphans in the county who have not had suitable guardians appointed; to inspect the returns of the several Justices of the Peace of the county to see that each has been made accord ing to law. The charge called special attention to a strict enforcement of laws against violations of the prohi bition laws, automobile laws, .laws against the carrying of concealed weapons, and laws ngainst morality. It also stated that the law providing for the test of weights and measures for those who buy and sell should be strictly enforced. vThen followed the checking of the docket by Solicitor W. D. Siler. The docket, after many cases had been car ried over, was a heavy one and a b;g week is now before the Court. The only case disposed of before the noon recess was the State vs W. E. Wallace, charged with violating the compulsory attendance act of the school law. The defendant plead guil ty and was discharged upon the pay ment of cost, i The Court until further notice will meet each morning during the week at 9:30. There is only one murder case that will come before this court which has been set for Thursday morning. This case is the state vs. Satterfield. Disabled Ex-Service Men. All disabled ex-service men are urgently requested to attend the first North Carolina Annual State Con vention of the disabled American Veterans of the World War at Char lotte March 24-25. This convention is called for the purpose of perfect ing the State organization, electing delegates to the National Convention at San Francisco June 26th to 30th, and for electing state officers for the year 1922—23. It is desired that the name and status of every disabled ex soldier who has not received justice in his claims be presented at the meet ing. Representatives of the Bureaus will be present, and these claims will be taken up and rushed through. Many prominent speakers will be present, including national officers of the organization. . . Those attending the convention will have to bear the expense of railroad fare and hotel bill, but other ex penses of the convention will be borne by the Convention Committee. Those expecting to be present are requested to send name and address to Chair man Z. B. Thornburg, Charlotte, N. C., Box 1354. BABE RUTH STARTS OUT'TRUE TO FORM NEW ORLEANS, March 10.—Babe Ruth, redoubtable home run special ist, signalized his arrival at New York American League training quarters here today when in batting practice he knocked the first ball pitched over center field fence. It was the second time in the history of the park that a ball had ever been knocked over the fence and Ruth holds both records. The fence is 14 feet high and 480 feet from home plate.—News and Observer. Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Beaty visited friends in Wilson’s Mills Sunday aft ernoon. SEVEN KILLED IN TRAIN WRECK Sixteen Injured in Smash and Others Are Exacted to Die; Coach _ Crashed Into Creek Atlanta, Ga., March 11.—Seven per sons were killed and sixteen injured thff; morning when a passenger coach of an Atlanta, Birmingham nad At lantic train, en route to Fitzgerald was derailed fifteen miles from At lanta and sent crashing into Camp Creek, fifty feet below. Approximately thirty persons were in the coach, the last of the train, when a wheel on the first truck burst, sending the car bumping over a hun dred yards of ties before the trestle was reached and almost crossed, when it suddenly turned over. The coach tore away from the preceding car as it fell and was almost completely de molished when it dropped into the shallow creek. The seven persons killed, six men and one woman, met instant death, their bodies being badly mutilated. All of the injured are expected to live. From eight o’clock until noon, scores of other passengers and persons from nearby towns, spurred by the cries of the injured worked in the wreckage, releasing those imprisoned and re moving the dead. Ambulances and physicians were rushed from Atlanta, and the injured and dead removed to hospitals and morgues here. The following list of dead and injured was issued by the A. B. and A. officials tonight after checking with hospital authorities: The dead: C. T. Elmore, cashier local fi-eight station A. B. and A. Railroad Company; W. E. McIntosh, Imperial Hotel, New York City; B. C. Driver, Roanoke, Ala.; W. E. Johnson, section foreman, Birmingham Divis ion, A. B. & A., Birmingham, Ala.; R. W. Lanier, operator, Senoia, Ga.; Mrs. I. H. Etheridge, Atlanta, Ga.; W. M. Brooks, Western Union Tele graph Company, Manchester, Ga.. The injured: C. D. Moore, Atlanta; Thomas W. Etheridge, Atlanta; Mrs. Thomas W. Etheridge, Atlanta; Thos. Etheridge, Jr., baby, Atlanta; Miss Mittie Wall, Fitzgerald, Ga.; Miss Estelle McNeice, Talbotton, Ga.; Miss Carolyne Dunbar, Langdale, Ala.; Mrs. A. B. McNeice, Talbotton, Ga.; H. F. Hentz, Atlanta; Miss Oliver Sigert, Atlanta; C. A. Davis, Alvaton, Ga.; Miss Mamy Whitelock, Atlanta; Mrs. B. G. McNeilly, Atlanta; Mrs. J. H. Murray, Atlanta; J. H. Murray, Atlanta; Willard Cope, Atlanta; Mrs. McNeice is the widow of A. B. Mc Neice, superintendent of Talbot coun ty, Georgia, schools, who was killed last year by Major Lee H. Coart, re tired army officer, and with Miss Es telle McNeice, her sister, and H. F. Hentz, a relative, was enroute to Tal botton to attend the trial Monday of Coart, who is charged with murder. Owing to prominence of the princi pals and the great interest in the case, a number of those oir the train were enroute to attend the trial. Willard Cope, who is injured seri ously, was one of the newspaper m^n, on the train. Miss Mittie Vyall is a sister of Solicitor General J. B. Wall, of Fitzgerald. Thomas W. Etheridge, his wife and small son, composed a funeral party enroute to Fairburn, the remains of Mrs. Etheridge’s mother, Mrs. Mollie Newman, being in the baggage car. When the car began to lurch from the track and finally turned over Mrs. Etheridge who was in the front part of the coach threw the child from a window. The boy fell in a heavy growth of bushes and was only slight ly injured. Five of the men killed were in the small smoker. Their bodies were all found together. C. D. Moore, who was in the same compartment ran to the rear platform and jumped. He fell in the creek, breaking a leg.—As sociated Press. In the Congressional Race Two sisters, Mrs. Irene C. Buell, the city prosecutor of Ashland, Neb., and Mrs. A. K. Gault, Mayor of St. Peter, Minn., have entered the con gressional race for this year. This is the first time in the history of woman suffrage that sisters have en tered the race at the same time. Some autoists would live longer if they didn’t think the signs at the crossings were made for the trains.— Carolina Banner. TO PUT ON “LIVE AT-HOME” DRIVE Governor Appoints County Officials to Help Win Eco nomic Independence By JOHN PAUL LUCAS. RALEIGH, March 13.—A county campaign committee consisting of the farm demonstration agent, the home demonstration agent, the sup erintendent of education, the superin tendent of health and the welfare of ficer in each county has been ap pointed by Governor Cameron Morri son and charged with the responsi bility of “putting over’’ the “Live-at Home” Movement, through which it is hoped that North Carolina may win economic independence and be started upon the road to greater prosperity and better conditions of health and physical fitness. The county officials named arg de clared by Governor Morrison to be in better position'than anyone else to realize fully what a deplorable hand icap North Carolina has had, from a financial and health standpoint, in the practice of a large part of its farming population of neglecting to raise at home proper food for the family and feed for live stock. These officials are in close touch with the situation and are • already working: upon the proposition. In this cam paign they will organize, secure the assistance of their local newspaper men and other interested citizens and conduct an intensified campaign, in which they will have the assistance and backing not only of the Governor,, the Department of Agriculture and the State College of Agriculture and Engineering, but also of the Depart ment of Education, the State Board of Health, the Board of Charity and Welfare, and other agencies, includ ing the special central campaign committee at Ruleigh, of which John. Paul Lucas is Executive Secretary. It has been emphasized in inaugu rating this campaign that the big idea is the production of food and feed products for home consumption and not for the market. In some sec tions of the state there are commer cial possibilities for the growing of these products, but this is declared to be a negligible factor as compared with the importance of every farm, family producing its full supply of food and feed stuff on its own premi ses. Kaiser Signs Must Go. BER rv. March 10.- M! insignia of monarchical Germany mu it be re moved from oublic buildings. Minis ter of the Interior Adolf Xoester to day told the Reichstag, He aided that the Government had decided to fix a definite period within which this decision would Le carried out. Exceptions will be made, he sa'd.. only where these emblems have been structurally incorporated in build ings where their removal would de stroy architectural value and effect. All paintings, busts and statues in Government offices must also be re moved, if their retention is incom- . patible with the republican regime. This order will chiefly apply to por traits of former Emperor William, although Herr Koester said excep tions might be made if their removal destroyed the “artistic and historical unity” of the interior decorations.— Associated Press. BOMB THROWN IN AMERICAN LEGATION IN BULGARIA SOFIA, Bulgaria, March 11.—An explosion occurred in the American legation here early this evening. No body was injured but several of the ..'in^ows were shattered and some damage was done to the building Charles S. Wrilson, the American min ister, expresses the belief that the explosion was due to a bomb. The bomb was thrown shortly be fore 8 o’clock in the evening and landed in the garden of the legation. The fact that this part of the lega tion was without lights and that no onb was there at the time seems to indicate that the perpetrator of the outrage had no intention of killing anyone. The king and cabinet have ex pressed deep regrets to the Ameri can minister and gratification that he was not injured. Bulgarian public opinion strongly condemns the act.— Associated Press.