North Carolina Newspapers

8MITHFIELD NEEDS: —Bigger Pay Roll. —A Modern Hotel. —Renovation of Opera House. —More Paved Streets. —Chamber of Commerce. * *? ■yK-.' J ohnston JOHNSTON COUNTY NEEDS: County Farm Agent Better Roads Feeding Highways Equal Opportunity for ETery School Child Better Marketing System More Food and Feed Crops \- -f $2.00 PER YEAR VOLUME 44—NO. 21 * * SMITHFIELD, N. C., FRIDAY MORNING, MARCH 12, 1926 * * Harnett Sheriff Denies Monds Shot To Death Dunn Citizens Said Not To Believe That Monds Was Connected With Affair In Meadow Township The report of the shooting done at the home of James Webb, of Meadow towship, which was pub lished in our last issue of March 9, has created a profound feeling in the community of Dunn, where Mr. Troy Monds lived and was well known. It is not believed by the citizens of his town and commun ity that Mr. Monds was present at the time of the shooting, or that he knew about it, or was in any | way connected with it. By so good j authority as the sfterlfi of Har- I nett county, it has been reported | that Mr. Monds was seen in the j chief of police headquarters around ten o’clock on Thursday night, which is about the exact hour it is reported that the shooting took place at Webb’s home, ten miles. The sheriff saw Mr. Monds that night and had a talk with him. He reports that Mr. Monds was in his usual good health and spirits and that there was not the slightest suggestion about his appearance that he had been in any kind of a raid. It is also authoritively stat ed that Mr. Monds worked some in his new ground on Thursday, the day of the alleged raid on Webb's home, and that he died be tweert midnight and day on Fri day night following. It was under stood then and so understood now j that his death as a natural! cause and not as a result of gun ; shot* wounda,*--* 'The Herald regrets that any re port should gain circulation that is not founded on truth and fact. The \ article referred to above was run without prejudice to any individ ual or any society. It was publish ed purely as a matter of news, and before the report got into its j pages it had been verified by more j than one citizen of Johnston coun ty. It is more than probable, how ever, that the report that the sher iff of Harnett county has furnish ed us, as regards Mr. Monds, is more to be relied upon than the reports that reached here last Mon day and from which we took our first report. The alleged visit of masked men to Webb on Thursday night of last week has been a current report since the affair, though investi gation has not added materially to the story in our last issue. Two Big Eggs Two of the largest hen eggs we ever saw were brought to us this week by Mr. J. Y. Baker, who lives on the Frost Place of Mr. W. M. Sanders. They are evidently double-yolked eggs. They weigh a half pound and each measures 8 inches around the long way and six and a half around the middle. BAPTIST PASTORS TO MEET The pastors’ conference of the Johnston Baptist Association will meet in the Smithfield Baptist church next Monday at 10 a. m. The executive committee will meet the same day at 2:30 p. m. Rev. P. A. Pridgen, of Benson, has been named by Moderator R. H Gower as a member of the exe cutive committee to succeed Rev. J. A. Ivey. S. L. MORGAN. AUNT ROXIE SAYS— By Me W t£ m m I broke ma colla bone an’ wen' to the horsepital, and doctah so do example uvhigh chargin’. KENLY BOY TO GO TO WEST POINT WILBUR H. ALFORD Kenly Youth Will Enter West Point Wilbur Alford Receives Appointment From Senator Simmons; Has Good Record Kenly, March 10.—Wilbur H. Al ford, who is a young leader in the scholastic, business and religious activities of his community, was recently appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point by United States Senator F. M. Simmons. Due to the fact that Senator Simmons can appoint only one boy every two years to West Point, Wilbur is very proud of having won an appointment to this great institution, as he ran against a field of boys who were trying for the same honor which was bestowed upon him. About a year ago Wilbur bought the News and Observer agency from one of his friends in Kenly. Since he has taken the agency for the “Old Reliable” he has more than doubled the number of sub scribers he had the first day of his agency. Wilbur has won four free trips, two of which were for his sales manship in the newspaper and magazine field. In 1924 he won a free trip to New York City as the guest of the International Maga zine Company and witnessed the World Series between the Giants and the Senators. A few days ago he was selected for a national organization, the' League of Curtis Salesmen, main tained by the Curtis Publishing Company, for boys who sell its publications. Admittance (to this organization depends upon regular school attendance and a record of •.‘Indent service to customers. Catherine {trying to spell some Kig word): I wish I could swallow a dictionary. Lelia: “‘You couldn’t digest it. VISITOR TO BE AT METHODIST CHURCH Smith field will have oppor tunity to hear Sunday morning at 11 o’clock at the M. E. church one of the numerous distinguish ed visitors attending the Wom an’s Missionary Council now in session in Raleigh.^ At this writing the pastor. Rev. A. J. Parker, does not know whether the speaker Will he one of the missionaries, deaconesses or other workers, but a speaker worth while will be present. Methodists from every, section of Sd’Phern Methodist territory in the^'Jnited States and repre sentatives from eigjht foreign countries are in attendance upon the Council meeting in Raleigh. Sml'hfield has asked fo r a speaker for both morning and evening se. vices Sunday but it is still indefinite about the eve ning service. Governor Lowden To Speak In N. C. Illinois Statesman Will Discuss Cooperative Marketing at Raleigh and Charlotte Raleigh, March ll.North Caro lina is to have the pleasure of hearing former Governor Frank 0. Lowden, of Illinois, one of the outstanding defenders of the rights and privilegeg of the farmer. Gov ernor Lowden, in addition to being one of the leading platform speak ers of the time, is a “dirt” farmer with large farming interests in Illinois, where he grows corn, cat tle and hogs, and is also one of the big cotton farmers of Arkansas, where he owns and operates a large plantation. Information is given out by Gen eral Manager U. B. Blalock of the North Carolina Cotton Growers Cooperative Association that Gov ernor Lowden has agreed to spend two days in this state in April, and it is Mr. Blalock’s purpose to : arrange for two great farmers’! meetings, one at Raleigh and the other at Charlotte. It i s under stood that Governor Lowden, who is an enthusiastic believer in Co operative Marketing and who is a member of the Arkansas Cotton Growers Association, will discuss the importance of cooperative mar-1 keting, and in addition will give his views concerning the control of agricultural surpluses, a subject to which he has given much study. The coming of the Illinois States man is another milestone in the eampatyfn which has started, fol lowing the instruction of the mass meeting of members of the Cot ton Association recently. The 600 members who gathered in Raleigh urged the management of the as sociation to go forward in the mat ter of securing the signing of new contracts. As one result, more than one thousand cotton farmers have already signed contracts that will take effect with the 1927 crop. These farmers represent nearly 20,300 bales. This was the tabula tion of the first few days effort on the part of the field service work ers. The present contract covers the crop of 1926, but beginning now, the management of the association will, with the aid of the loyal mem bers, be able to carry on the can vass with its regular force, and without additional expense. Speaking of the rscord made by the North Carolina Cotton Grow ers Association, Mr. Blalock said that North Carolina led all other cotton states in the percentage of the crops delivered to the cooper ative associations. This percent* age has increased each year, show ing the growing confidence of the cotton farmers in this method of marketing their crop. This year approximately 160,000 bales were handled by the North Carolina As sociation and the percentage of the crop delivered was very gratifying to the management. At the close of the present sea son, the Association will have in hand, intact, a Reserve Fund be longing to the members of close to $700,000. This Reserve was set up by withholding one per cent of the gross sales. Each member was given a certificate for his part of the reserve each season, and these certificates bear six per cent inter est, payable annually. It is the opinion of the present Board of Directors that the reserve certifi cates will be called in annually and paid in cash to the holders, be ginning with the end of the pres ent year, and continuing each year until all are paid. In this way, each certificate will have been in effect five years and each holder will have received interest for that per iod. In making the canvass for a re signup, there is no minimum set, but the members of the associa tion have set as a goal, a total of 25 per cent of the crop and the field workers are striving to reach that goal and expect to do it. This goal is not out of proportion. It is practically the record of the past year. District No. 7, composed of the counties of Moore, Richmond, and Anson, delivered 24.12 per cent of the crop; District No. 8, com Turn to Page eight, please Oboy! * > * - Whatta Life!! (Ajfro ca g'-rii aj . (I ?; Jp#'-* The Prince of Wales, credited with being England’s best adver tising bet in his tumbling act from galloping steeple-chase horses, has a real national rival—now that John Coolidge, son of the Presi dent.. has taken up boxing at Ahiherst college. Right now John la nursing a rather “ouchy’’ noso end the Prince is carrying his left arm In a sli- g the former having lost a three round battle in a boxing tourney and the latter from a bad spill—his thirteenth fall in a race. Fourteen Year Old Gaston Oliver On Trial For Murder Pat Massey J)ies At Wilson's Mills Had a Record of Forty Years With the South ern Railway Compa.iy Wilson’s Mills, March 11.—Pat rick Massey, 57, who had a record of having served slightly more than 40 years with the Southern Railway, died here last night at his home after an illness of five months duration with hea!rt trouble. He died two weeks to the' day after his brother, M. sey, who died in Richmond,4* Va. The combined service of the six Massey brothers, all of whom are railroad men, is 212 years. Funeral services will be held this afternoon at the home at 3 o’clock and interment will be in Vinson cemetery, near Wilson’s Mills. The deceased is survived by his wife and four children: James 0.; Frank A.; Patrick L.; and Miss Clara Odessa Massey, who is a student at Duke University. Four brothers and two sisters also sur vive. They are: John W. Massey, of Clayton; B. D. Massey, of Dur hamffi W. H. Massey, of Raleigh; W. C. Massey, of Trinity; Mrs. J. R. Ledbetter and Mrs. William Jones, both of Princeton. REPORTS COLD SPRING IN NORTHERN CITIES Mr. J. C- Stancil, who writes us that he is moving from River Edge, N. J., to Danbury, Conn., states that there is little evidence of spring up that way. He reports snow and ice and a temperature around zero on Saturday, March 6. Out in the country the tempera ture was four degrees below zero. Sleeping suits ,made of fleecy, knitted fabrics, feet attached in gray. Cases Vs. Geo. F. Wood ard and Miss Lena Woodard Are Schedul ed Today Interest in this week’s term of I criminal Superior Court centered • around the case of state vs. Gas con Oliver, 14-year-old boy charg i ed with the murder of James Wood jard near Pine Level on thanksgiv ing day. The case was called yes terday afternoon at 4:30 o’clock. jThe solicitor is not asking for any | greater verdict than second degree ; murder or manslaughter. Quite a number of witnesses have been |summoned to appear. The case got "Well under Way yesterday after noon but is not likely to be com pleted until some time today. Five cases concerning the Mer chants and Farmers Bank at Prince ton are set for today as folows: state vs. Geo. F. Woodard, charged with embezzlement; state vs. Lena Woodard, false entry in bank; state vs. Lena Woodard, accept de posit; state vs. Geo. F'. Woodard, false entry in bank; state vs. Geo. F. Woodard, accept deposit. The docket has been heavy from the start and several cases of minor importance have been continued until the next term of court. When the court discharged the grand jury the judge accepted the report with thanks and ordered a copy I to be published in the local paper, | and that copies be served to the I keeper of the prison camp, the J county commissioners, and the next | judge who shall hold criminal court j here. The grand jury was discharg ed at three o’clock on Wednesday afternoon. Among the cases which were dis posed of during the week was that of the state vs. J. T. Jeffrys, for merly of Wilders township, who was tried for bigamy. It was brought out during the trial that j | Jeffrys has traveled over the! i (Turn to page five, please) Senator Hands Out Coal to Needy A coal party is the latest in senatorial circles. Senator M. M. Neely of West Virginia (shown in the truck) brought joy to the hearts of many poor families in Washington when he personally delivered a carload of coal from the mines of his state to the needy. Fiftieth Birthday TelephoneSystem On March 10, Fifty Years Ago The First Message Was Transmitted Over the’Phone The 50th birthday of the tele phone was celebrated March 10 by 320.000 Bell telephone workers and thousands of others throughput the United States and Canada. In honor of the occasion men and women in the telephone in dustry everywhere wore an attrac tive button, showing a telephone and the numerals 50. These work ers during the twenty-four hour period of celebration enabled tel ephone subscribers to complete 67, 700.000 messages—an almost un believable expansion from one sen tence on March 10, 1876 to the millions of conversations March 10, 1926. There are 20,500 Bell telephone workers in the Southeastern states who joined in the nation-wide cel ebration. The South can claim with pride that the telephone owes a part of its development to the re ception given it in the South in its infancy. Among the first telephone ex changes established were those op ened in some of the leading cities of the South during the year 1879. Among the cities in this pioneer list are Agusta, Savannah and At lanta, Ga.; Charleston, S. C.; Wil mington, N. C-; Mobile, Ala-; Louisville. ,Ky*; and Richmond, Lynchburg and Norfolk, Va. The first building ever erected to be used exclusively as a telephone exchange was constructed in Louis ville, Ky., some fifteen years be fore the_ close of the nineteenth century. Four days after his twenty ninth birthday and three days be fore the first sentence was trans mitted, Alexander Graham Bell, an impetus young Scotchman, re ceived his patent for the telephone. If he had lived until today, he would have seen his first telephone system of two crude instruments, connected by a few feet of wire, and protected by a single patent develop into a system of 16,000, 000 Bell owned stations, connected by 51,000.000 miles of wire, and protected by a total of 9,000 pat ents. There are 27,213,100 tele phones in use in the world today, of which number, 61 per cent are located in the United States and most of them are a part of the Bell system. On March 10, fifty years ago, the first sentence was transmitted over the telephone by Alexander i Graham Bell from his laboratory, the top floor of an old house in Bos ton to Thomas A. Watson, his as sistant, in another room on the same floor. The first words trans mitted were, “Mr. Watson, come here. I want you.” These two men were the sole active telephone wor kers at that time. The early days of the telephone furnish a thrilling story of a des perate struggle for life in a cold business world which frowned on Binking money in a “toy,” as the telephone was then called". Four men gave themselves without re serve to bless the world with the electrical transmission of speech. Each made a distinct contribution. Bell contributed his inventive gen ius; Thomas A. Watson, his skill ed craftsmanship which fashion ed Bell’s idea into a working in strument; Thomas Sanders, the first financial assistance, which was inspired by the love of his daugh ter for the romantic inventor; and Gardiner G. Hubbard, the first publicity man for the telephone, the personality necessary to ac quaint the world with its possibil ities. The common contribution of each was faifth and enthusiasm that entailed sacrifice. Thomas A. Watson is the only member of the group living today Development in business and or ganization backed by the patient toil of the dentists in the Bell re search laboratories has featured the telephone’s progress in recent years. The old, neglected trees in th< orchard will be much helped bj removing all dead, diseased an< weak branches before sprinf growth begins. Queen of Ozarks The smile of Miss Esteila South ard of Joplin, Mo., radiates sun shine, according to members of the Ozarks Playground association, formed to boost southwestern Mis souri as a vacation land. So she has been selected as official “Ozark Smile” queen. Woman's Club Elects Officers! Mr*. W. N. Holt Is New President — Financial Report For Year Makes Fine Showing The new head of the Woman’s club elected at the meeting Wed nesday afternoon is Mrs. W. N. Holt. The chairman of the nomi nating committee, Miss Mattie Pou, in making “her report', stated that it vras with reluctance that Mrs. Holt consented to have her ; name placed before the club but j when promised the cooperation of i the entire membership yielded to j the insistence of the committee. ! Mrs. Holt is an active club work- | er, is familiar with the plans of j the organization, and the selection j seems particularly fortunate. i Other officers chosen at the' meeting Wednesday were vice-pres ident, Mrs. T. J. Lassiter; corre- j sponding secrtary, Miss Ava My-1 att; recording secretary, Mrs. Joe Davis; treasurer, Miss Bettie Lee Sanders; chairman of social serv ice, Mrs. Paul Brown; civics, Mrs. H. C. Hood; library, Mrs. N. M. Lawrence with Mrs. J. W. Keen and Mrs. Roger A. Smith Jr., as sistants; literary, Mrs. E. J. Wel lons; music, Miss Lallah Rookh Stephenson with Mrs. C. V. John son assistant; home economics, Mrs. Kirby L. Rose. Annual reports were read at the meeting the treasurer making a particularly good showing. The amount raised duringthe p ast year was $724.54, the ways and means committee of which Mrs. T. S. Ragsdale has been chairman, turn I ing in $533.03 of that sum. The special work of the club at present is raising funds for a new club house which it is hoped will be erected at an early date on the lot already purchased on the cor ner of Market and First Streets. Three Fires Occur Here This Week A fire a day for three days was the record for Smithfield this week, but none of them resulted in any considerable damage. The biggest loss was sustained by John Jones, colored, whose dwelling and house hold furniture were completely de stroyed, and his cafe damaged. The loss will probably total from $3000 to $3500. The fire was discovered about four-thirty Monday morn ing. The fire alarm again called oul the fire department Tuesday nighl about ten o’clock, and it was founc hat an old barn near North Fourtl Street was on fire. Wednesday morning about elev en o’clock the fire company was caled to the home of Mr. Roger A Smith. Painters at work on Mr Smith’s house, discovered smoke coming out of the walls and fire was discovered between plasterinj and weather boarding near the chimney. Investigation indicatei ‘ that the fire originated in a rat’i nest. The damage was slight. Schools Urged To Select Spellers Winner In County-Wida Spelling Bee Goes To Charlotte For State Wide Contest Charlotte, March 10—Here is $ chance of a lifetime for spellers of North Carolina to get real money as well as real fun, from the covers of the old spelling book. The Charlotte Observer will givo $175 in cash rewards to the best spellers in the state, and many county champion spellers will get free trips to Charlotte. The spelling bee is to be state* wide, and the schools of Charlotte and in the one hundred counties have been invited by The Observ er to participate. Each school will pick its best speller in a regular spelling bee. Then all school win ners, city and county, are to meet at the county seat to select, in an. old fashioned spelling bee, the county champion. This lucky boy, or girl, may be among those who will come to Charlotte in May as the guest of The Observer. He or she will stop at the city’s best ho tel, will be royally entertained and will enter the state-wide finals. Then The Observer is offering the following prizes at the all-territory finals in May: first, $100, second $50, and third, $25. In addition, the champion spell er of North Carolina will be sent to Washington, D. C., in June to take part in the Second National Spelling Bee Contest. All expense* of both the winner and a chaperon will be paid by the Observer. Tn the event that the winner is a girl, her mother-will act as chaperon? in case a boy, The Observer will provide a suitable chaperon. In Washington more than twenty spelling champions will compete for $2000 in gold and a gold medal. The fir*£jrize will be $1000; sec ond, $50* third, $200; fourth, $150; fifth, $100; sixth, $50. A five-day sightseeing tour and other enter tainments are in store for the win ners of North Carolina. Schools in both city and county have been invited to join the bee and urged by The Observer to for ward their acceptances immediate ly to the Spelling Bee Editor. BAPTIST CHURCH SUNDAY Sunday school 9:30 a. m., the Baraca-class meeting in the Vic tory theater at the same time. The pastor will preach at 11 a. m., and 7:^1 p. m. In the morning a spec ial sermon on the life of the Apos tle John, as an aid to understand-* Ing thS great book and its author from which the Sunday school les sons have been taken for the first quarter of this year. Special invi tation to all members of the Sun day school. Mr. Pou’» Radio Spsech' From WCAP Washington On the evening of March 24 Congressman E. W. Pou, repre sentative from this district wiU deliver a radio address from sta tion WCAP at Washington. Pou will “go in the air” at seven o'clock instead of seven-thirty* as previously announced. You can’t cut production cost$ unless you know what these co-ti are. The only way to know th*‘ n costs is to keep records. The Mirror IS THIS TOUT If the penon who answers this description will Oil st The Herald office tie; will receive a free ticket to the Victor? Theatre. You were seen on Third stree t about four-thirty o’clock We«. nesday evening. You wore tan slipgers, cream colored hose, a tan pleated skirt, light blue sweater. Light bobbed hair. Tyree Woody recognized him self in Tuesday’s Mirror.