North Carolina Newspapers

HOPE OF SETTLEMENT IS IN LABOR BOARD Seniority is Thought Still to Be the Big Trouble In Agreement CHICAGO, July 23.—Hope of a j settlement of the railroad strike cen tered tonight in the railroad labor board again, following the return of Ben Hooker, its chairman, from a conference with President Harding. While Mr. Hooper was meeting the government officials in Washington, B. M. Jewell and other strike lead ers were in conference with James J. Davis, secretary of labor, at Moosehart, Ills. At the end of the meeting and be fore departing for Washington, Mi. Paivs epxressed the belief that the strike could be settled at once if the roads would restore the senior ity rights of the strikers, and the labor board would take up the ques tions in dispute. In discussing the hopes of a settlement, members of the labor board reviewed the progress of the strike since its inception July 1. They pointed out that the strike vote which precipitated the country-wide walk-out, was taken on three ques tion. These grievances were given in a strike bulletin issued on July 7, by Mr. Jewell, which said: “The present strike centers around these issues: Jewell’s First Issues. “1. Establishment of unjust wag es by decisions of the United States labor board. “2. Establishment of unjust work ing conditions which curtailed over time pay allowed under government operation. “3. Contracting out of shop work to evade the application of the law as provided by the transportation act.” Early last week, however, Chair man Hooper after ten days of con ferences with rail heads and strike leaders, issued a statement giving the striking shopmen’s program as five points instead of the original three, and asserted it was one of the two supplemental points—that of restoring seniority rights added only after the inauguration of the strike—that then stood in the way of a settlement. He listed the five demands in the following order: Board’s List of Issues. “1—Abolition of the contract sys tem. “2—Establishment of a national adjustment board. “3—Rehearing of the wages and rules dispute by the labor board. “4—Roads to dismiss all law suits growing out of the strike. “5—Restoration of seniority rights to the strikers.” Mr. Hooper asserted that his in vestigations had convinced him that “no serious obstacles is to be found to peace” in any of the points ex cept the fifth. Further progress was seen in the statement issued last night by Mr. Jewell, however, in which he said: “There are three principal issues now preventing a possible settle ment of the railway controversy which are found in the refusal of the railway executives: Jewell’s Last Statement. “1—To discontinue contracting out of work. “2—To establish a national board of adjustment. “3—To continue seniority rights of employes who suspended work.” It was pointed out that the last list of demands contained only one of the original three grievances which resulted in the strike call—that re lating to the discontinuance of out side contracting—and it was indi cated that almost every road in the country already had agreed to stop this practice. The omission of the original demands relating to wages and rules occasioned some comment, the belief being expressed that the shopmen finally had decided to agree to a rehearing of these points by the labor board.—Associated Press. Locating the Knockers The men who knock a town in which they live, usually are the very ^ one who fail to pay poll taxes, and neglect to vote on election day.— Marion Progress. CONSTRUCTION MEN AT CHAPEL HILL STRIKE Walk Out When Pay Is Slashed Dol lar a Day; College Men Included. CHAPEL HILL, July 20.—Nearly forty employees of the T. C. Atwood Company, laboring men working on the Class buildings now in construc tion on the University campus, walk ed out today when announcement was made that wages were cut from JO to 20 cents per hour. The wage de crease amounts to a dollar a day for the Atwood laborers, and when the wage cut was made known only a small number remained on the job. A large number of the laborers were college men, including many University students. After the men drew their pay envelopes there were some words passed between some of them and the employers, hut no vio lence resulted. WHARTON FAMILY REUNION AND PICNIC JULY 18TH There was a reunion of the Wharton family at I^akewood, the country place of Rev. S. M. Rankin, nine miles east of Greensboro, Tues day! July 18th. All the descendants of the original Watson Wharton and their families were especially invited to attend and bring well fill ed baskets for a big picnic dinner. W. Gilmer Wharton, Walter L. Whar ton and C. R. Wharton composed a committee arranging for the meeting. Eighty-three Wharton descendants were present at this reunion and a permanent organization was formed with E. P. Wharton, of Greensboro, as its first president. Among the r . ny telegrams and messages re ceived was one from far off Butte City, Montana. It is planned to con tinue these meetings making them an annual affair to be held at the ideal location of Lakewood. Our townsman, Dr. L. D. Wharton, and family were present on this occasion having been visiting relatives there for some time. Watson Wharton was born in Eng land in 1746, emigrated to Maryland in 1767, moved to Guilford county in 1785 and settled where his great great grandson, Walter L. Wharton, now lives. It is known that there have been more than a thousand descendants. Several hundred are now living in Guilford county. Others have moved away and at present the family is represented in 20 counties of the state and half of the states of the union. SURPLUS ARMY EQUIPMENT RETURNED FOR ROAD MAKING The first shipment of surplus war material used by the American army of occupation in Germany and now j to be distributed among the States ! for use in road construction arrived at Brooklyn, N. Y., July 1. The equipment consisting of 30 trucks, 7 tractors, 4 concrete mixers, and 3 ' road rollers, will be distributed by the Bureau of Public Roads of the U. S. Department of Agriculture in i the same way as was several millions dollars’ worth of material from France and the arsenals and camps in this country. Additional material for road making to be shipped from Germany will consist of several hun dred trucks, a number of tractors, and about 2,000,000 pounds of spare parts for trucks. COURT HOUSE BOND ISSUE IS DEFEATED Majority of Eighty Votes Against Progressive Move In Wilson County WILSON, July 23.—Wilson coun ty’s $250,000 bond issue to provide . new court house and jail was defeat ed in yesterday’s election by a mar gin of 80 votes. Early indicat were that the bond issue had carried, but the vote from the outlying townships, almost solidly against it, turned the tide. So close was the vote that the complete figures were necessary before the result was de termined. Advocates of the bond issue claim its defeat was caused by failure of Wilson rownship voters to go to the polls in full strength, whereas the outlying precincts, almost solidly aga..nt the issue, mustered their forces almost to a man.—News and Observer. HOOVER PLANNING TO RATION COAL Efforts Will be Made Keep Prices Down; Emergency Organization WASHINGTON, July 23.—Opera tors,from the coal producing districts of six states will be asked tomor row by Secretary Hoover to co-oper ate with the government and the railroads in a plan to insure the dis tribution of fuel to the carriers and public utilities and to prevent profi teering during the strike emergency. All angles of Mr. Hoover’s scheme, which contemplates the formation of a central committee to operate through local commissions in the producing districts of Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Penn sylvania and Alabama, were threshed out today at a series of conferences of the Federal agencies involved. Before the opening of the meeting tomorrow morning Mr. Hoover will have from Attorney General Daugh erty a report on the powers accru ing to the government in the emerg ency through the co-operation of the Interstate Commerce Commission and its authority under the law regulat ing interstate commerce. In general, Mr. Hoover’s program was understood to contemplate the creation of an emergency machine with the committee composed of a representative from the departments of Commerce, Justice, Interior and the Intel state Commerce Commis sion, with the commerce secretary as chairman, operating through the local committees established in the pro ducing districts at the time of the voluntary agreements fixing maxi mum fair prices. Pooling of Coal. Pooling of coal in the producing districts, and distribution of cars under a preferential system to be instituted under authority of the In terstate Commerce Commission, is planned to permit of the marshalling of fuel at the most available points for quick shipment to the destina tions where most needed. Co-opera tion between the railroads and the Interstate Commerce Commjission would make possible adequate supply of cars and establishment of freight embargoes, if necessary, to facili tate fuel movement. Representatives of the operators and the railroads are to be drafted into service as administrative aids in the central committee to provide direct contract with those industries. Hold Down Prices. Price maintenance is to be sought through efforts to obtain a more general observance on the part of small operators of the voluntary price agreements already in force and by co-operation on the part of the railroads to prevent competitive bidding sending coal prices skyward. While Mr. Hoover’s scheme was declared to be based on the co-opera tion of the operators in the continu ance of the coal production, the In terstate Commerce Commission’s ac tion towards the movements of coal was the administration’s “trump” card.—Associated Press. ALIEN IN 6 WEEKS LEARNS TO READ AND GETS INTO U. S. GLOUCESTER, N. J„ July 19.— After being tutored by his sister for six weeks, John Byrne, 25, was re leased by immigration authorities to day when he passed a special literacy test. He had been held since June 4 when it was found he couldn’t read or write. Byrn’e sister spent five hours a day teaching him he fundamentals of English. She is shirtwaist maker in a Philadelphia factory and ob tained leave of absence to teach her illiterate brother. John intends to get a job and go to night school this fall to repay his sister for her sac rifice. Room for Improvement in Herds. Dairymen in the 45 cow-testing as sociations in the 9 Western States now own 9,484 cows that have made more than 40 pounds of butterfat in a month. Not many years ago a 40-pound cow was a rarity. There is much room for improvement, howev er, in the general run of herds in all parts of the country, says the United States Department of Agriculture. FACULTY COMPLETE FOR NEXT SESSION New High School Building Will be Ready for The Opening in September >upt. T H. Franks, who has been r|h ruling sometime at his home near Apex, was in 'he city Saturday and informed us that the faculty for the graded school for next year is now complete. The new high school build in is nearing completion and will be ready for the opening in Septem ber. the date of opening not yet hav ing been settled upon. The school board recently purchased new fur niture for the extra rooms w'hich will be used, and every grade will go to school in the morning instead of hav ing double sessions, as has been nec essary for two or three years past. The following is a list of the teach ers who will teach here next year: First Grade: Miss Elsie Sparger, Mt. Airy; Miss Irene Myatt, City. Second grade: Miss Nettie L. Smoak, Wilkesboro; Miss Lina Woodward, Statesville. Third grade: Miss Janie* Lyerly, Hickory; Clota Edwards, Mars Hill: Leah Love, Monroe. Fourth grade: Miss Sarah Miller, Moeksville; Eulah Parrish, City . Fifth grade: Miss Hazel West, Dover; Miss Mae Pinson, Honea Path, N. C. Sixth grade: Miss Annie Parker, Monroe; Miss Louise Foy, Mt. Airy. Seventh grade: Miss Lorene Leon ard, Catawba. High school: Mr. G. T. Whitley, principal English and typewriting; Miss Jessie Penny, Cary, History and Civics; Miss Evelyn Wilson, Dover, Latin and French; Miss Margaret field, Asheville, Mathematics; Mr. i Chas. B. Park, Jr., Raleigh, Science and English: Miss Margaret Newell, Newell, N. C., Music. Miss Elva Timberlake, Timber lake, teacher and welfare worker at Ivanhoe Mill. COX TO BE ENTERTAINED BY FRENCH PREMIER PARIS, July 21 (By the Associated Press.)—Former Gov. James M. Cox, of Ohio, will be the guests of Premier and Mme. Poincare at a dinner at the ministry of foreign affairs tomorrow evening. Mr. Cox who was quoted today in some of the morning newspapers on the league of nations, and other sub jects, asserted the only statement on the league which he had made was to the effect that while governments came, and went, the league was a steady, lasting force and, therefore, the hope of the world. Mr. Cox had a consultation with Leon Bourgeois recently and another with Lord Robert Cecil. Both con versations were largely taken up with league of nations affairs. On Sunday Mr. Cox will leave by motor car for Rome, where he will be received by Pope Pius. Visits to Florence, Venice, and then Geneva will follow. At Geneva he will study the organization of the league. He plans then to go to Vienna, Prague, Berlin, The Hague, and Brussels be fore returning to London about Au gust 20. He will sail for New York about Sept. 1.—Washington Post. START CAMPAIGN TO MAKE GERMANY DRY DARMSTADT, July 23.—The open ing gun of a campaign for a “Dry Germany” was fired here today by the “Committee for the Introduction of Prohibition in Germany.” This com mittee is headed by Dr. Strecker, former minister of education for Hesse. It comprises numerous aca demic and political men who come from all sections of Germany. It is a self-constituted organiza tion and purposes to pursue a cam paign for enlighten the German peo ple of the nature of the Volstea 1 Act, urging the adoption of a similar law in Germany. It will arrange “straw votes” in various cities with the object of smnding public senti ment.—Associated Press. Messrs J. H. Wiggs and R. W. Brooks will leave today for Salem - burg and White Lake where they will , spend several days with relatives ’ and friends. ROCKY MOUNT STRIKERS HOLD OPEN AIR MEETING A. C. L. Emerson Shops Manned by Negro Helpers and the Foremen is Busy Place. ROCKY MOUNT, July 23.— No developments of any kind marked the shopmen’s strike situation here today, as hoth the striking- men and the Atlantic Coast Line Railway company rocked quietly along as thev have been doing forthe past week, and the city, free from the tension which marked the early days of the stike and the coming of the state troops, is awaiting with keen inter est the outcome of the present week which is expected to reveal whether or not the company will he ahle to man its Emerson shops, which have resumed some operations with a number of negro laborers and the foreman back on the job. Both the company and the strik ing men are optimistic as to the outcome of the situation. This after noon considerably over a thousand of the striking men and their famil ies gathered in open mass meeting at Braswell park, where they heard ad dresses by several union officials and Mayor C. L .Gay. These speakers outlined the strikers’ cause and stressed law and order and absolute adherence to the terms of the in junction secured by the railroad company. The men appeared abso lutely unshaken in their morale, while optimism and cheer fairly ex uded from the gathering. Announce ment was made that a similar meet ing would be held again next Sun day afternoon. From the railroad side of the fence came the statement that everything was moving in tip top shape and that operations at the shops were being gradually resumed with satisfactory results. The motive power, it was stated, has held up in excellent shape, while it is understood that the com pany still has several hundred engines stored and ready for use. It is generally expected that the present week will see some tests as to the manning of the shops, the indi cations being that no effort will be made to bring in outside help in large numbers but that the attempt when made, will be upon a gradual scale. While there has been no semblance of disorder the special guards are maintaining their watch at South Rocky Mount and the two companies of state militia remaining in camp two miles away. The fellows of the outfit are having a regular vacation however, so far as service is con cerned. Many of them attended the various churches today and their presence has now come to be taken as a part of the routine, every day life here now as the strike enters upon its fourth week.—Greensboro News. DEAF MUTES ON DECREASE Census Shows Proportionate Decline in Ten Years. WASHINGTON, July 19—Although the number of deaf and dumb per sons enumerated in the 1920 census, 44,885 showed a slight increase over the 1910 figure, the rate per million of population decreased from 486 to 425, the Census Bureau announced to day. While changes in the methods of enumeration were said to make the comparison as a measure of de crease in the rate somewhat uncer tain, the enumeration could be accept ed, the announcement said, as indicat ing some decline in prevalence. This fact, which also yras said to have been noted in European coun tries, was attributed in large measure to advanced treatment for certain children’s diseases which frequently caused deafness. Hughes is Delighted. WASHINGTON, July 21.—An agreement between Peru and Chile regarding their difference over the Tacna-Area boundary dispute was settled today by the signatures to the agreement between the representa tives of the two governments. This act was hailed by Secretary Hughes I as a signal of victory for the con ! ference and similar conferences. “If war is to be prevented he said, it I must be done through international conferences and 6y representatives to erase the differences of their nations rather than keeping them alive.—Wil son Daily Times. BOLD ROBBERIES COMMITTED HERE Several Houses Entered Fri day and Saturday Nights Auto Stolen Also An epidemic of robberies seems to have struck Smithfield during the past week. Friday night between 2 o’clock and daybreak, thieves entered the homes of Mrs. Ina \Ayeock, Dr. N. T. Holland and Mr. V. A. Meritt, in Brooklyn, carrying off about $60 in cash. About three o’clock Mrs. Aycoek was awakened by a noise and got up and made some investigation, but finding no one, and hearing nothing further, she went back to bed without discovering that anyone had entered her house until the next morning. Then she found the kitchen window and screen open where the thief evidently went in. Her son, Ern est, found his pants moved from the sleeping-room to the dining-room. The would-be-robber did not get any mon ey at this place, but probably would have stolen a dollar and half from his trouser pockets, if he had not taken that amount from them when he went to bed and placed it under his head. Better luck awaited the thief at Dr. N. T. Holland’s where he enter ed the house through the kitchen win dow, went into Dr. Holland’s room and removed between twenty and twenty-five dollars from his trousers, without awakening a single member of the family. A check and a diam ond stud in his shirt were left un touched. The thief evidently had it in mind to plunder other homes in the same neighborhood but was prevented Dy the turning on of lights. Mrs. N. B. Grantham thinking she heard some one at a window got up and turned on the lights. Hearing nothing more, she did not arouse any one else but after hearing of the other in stances she felt sure she prevented his entering the house by turning on the lights. The home of Mr. V. A. Merritt, al feo in Brooklyn, was entered the same night and a pair of pants with at least $35 was stolen. Mr. Merritt who is the agent for the Singer Sewing Machine Co., here, had made a number of collections that day and he was able to remember amounts which totaled $35. His check book was also stolen. The robber entered the sleeping room and made his exit without arousing anyone. Saturday mgnt, tne nomes oi Laura Eason, colored, and Merritt Lee, colored, were entered. From “Uncle Merritt,” a well-known old colored man who does odd jobs around town, the thief took 50 cents. At Laura Eason’s he got a dollar and a finger ring. He made his entrance through the kitchen. On Sunday night attempts were made to enter the homes of David Hines and Mil lard Allen, both colored. Shots fired scared them away. The other robbery which took place occurred Saturday afternoon when a Ford car belonging to Mr. Barney Hamilton was stolen from the street. Mr. Hamilton who lives near town, had parked his car on Market street near the drinking fountain by Mr. J. D. Spiers’ store and had gorfe to at tend to some business. When he re turned his car was gone. The police were notified and his car has been located at Sharpsburg in Wilson County. The thief was apprehended by the Wilson police authorities who turned him over to the authorities here yesterday. As to the person committing the house-breaking misdemeanors there seems to be absolutely no clue at present. Report has come to us that other instances have occurred sever al weeks ago. The. thief has certain ly taken advantage of the hot wea | ther when people are apt to leave windows and doors open. These oc I currences, however, are calculated | to make everybody more careful in j the future. The chief of police requests us I to ask anyone hearing suspicious I noises to call him on the ’phone, and he will do all he can to catch the of fender. A salesman can’t help gathering in a decent quota of orders if he will expose himself to enough buyers.— Dunn Dispatch.