VOL. XL, NO. 26
■aawßAMSffi—MgaaaiMß—tgg«"~'"im-Wi l ' f "■ ~**rc
"REMINISCENCES."
Biographical and Historical Sketch
' by Dr. P. S. Hicks, Treating of
LocafPersons and Scenes.
He pointed out to me a boarding
house that was kept by a widow" wo
man . ■ He said she had been married
fourteen times and was then engaged
to be married again. I asked him if
that was an average, he said not, but
that this woman was good-looking and
smart, was a good cook and kept a
boarding house, that all her husbands
had been killed in the pits, and that
she did not stay single long. I stayed
all night there and went home next
day.
About this time the presidential elec
tion was on hand and Abraham Lincoln
was elected. I saw that war was pend
ing and I had better go back home, for
if I stayed ther I could not tell whose
hands I would fall into. In a few weeks
I wound up my affairs in Richmond and
Manchester and moved back to Tar
boro. Drums soon began to beat, war
was the pass word, companies were'
being formed the roll was being called, I
the war hoot sounded. Fort Sumter
was captured by the rebels and war
began in full 'biasi. The second \- ar J
of the war I got a position as overseer I
for Mr. Lafayette Dancy. By this time'
the Confederacy was in an uproar and j
war was the order of the day.
• A State Draft was ordered taking all
between eighteen and twenty-five on
the roll. I think two thirds between
those ages were drafted. My boss,
Mr. Dancy was drafted to go with the
state troop. Soon another call was
made by the order of the Confederacy
taking all as eonscripts of the above
age, of course I was included then, the
tug of war had come. I was opposed
to war and did not love to fight anyway
but something must be done, if there
was an easy place to be had I wanted
it. My brother Seth hired a substitute
but he being commissary of the militia
was enough of conception. Seth then
turned his substitute over to James my
other brother, he being an overseer for
a widow woman, got him exempt under
the act of the twenty negro law. As
I was net able to hire a substitute I
had to fall in ranks for conscription.
The day soon came.
Edgecombe county fell into line,
Capt. A. C. Latham was the conscrip
tion officer for Edgecombe. He con
trolled a light artillery, he was in the
first battle at New Bern and in another
big battle in Virginia and had lost over
half of his men and was after recruits
for his company, he made this procla
mation, if any man wanted to join his
company, step to the front and if he
was a good able bodied man he would
receive him, enlist him and give him a
pass to stay at home until he called for
him. Then it was time for my wit to
commence, I stepped to the front and
was the only man in the county that
did. Right then and there he gave me
a permit and I left for ranks. He took
in several others but they were con
signed as substitutes for other people.
I wiil call part of their names, John
Dugin, John O. Mocre, George Balser,
James Smithwick and David Ricks, of
Nash county. The conscripts were all
taken to Raleigh to camp. In fifteen
days I received orders to go to Raleisrh
but after going was permitted to go
back home for ten days longer. 1 was
then ordered to go back to Raleigh and
stayed there about two days. While
there I was fitted out with uniform,
napsack and* canteen etc, and a helmet.
I brought with me from home two suits
of clothes besides the ones I had on, two
bedquilts, another blanket and a
feather pillow. You can imagine
about how I looked with all that rigging
bundled around me on a march. The
day before we left Raleigh a man by
the name of Gilbert came and asked
me if I belonged to the artillery, I told
him all rigfht to wait a minute and I
reckoned I could get him in. I hastened
off and looked around for Dick Green,
he was a kind of clerk or aid for the i
captain. The* captain was his uncle. ;
I soon found Dicl: and if he could take
him around to the captain and swear ]
in. Dick said he thought he could.
They started to the tent, just then I i
happened to think and called Gilbert -
and asked him how old he was. He
said he was seventeen years and six j
months old, I askod him didn't he think ]
• he had better go as substitute for some
man that six months a.id get pay for it.
Dick Green saw the place and said yes
for him to go right on, that he** knew a s
man that wanted a substitute bad. ]
Shortly I saw Gilbert, he had plenty of ]
money, he got four hundred dollars but £
gave Green two hundred for getting I
him in. He asked me what he owed 
me for my service. I told him he could (
give me what he liked. He gave me r
PUBUSHIiErEVERY THURSDAY BY THE ROCKY MOUNT PUBLISHING COMPANY.
what He gave me twenty
dollars. That is where I missed it, the
two hundred dollars could have been
made, but that was alright anyhow. I
i>ent the twenty dollars '-home and my
wife bought a barrel of flour' with it.
At that time flour was twenty dollars ■
barrel. Pretty soon the long roll was
beat, we all fell in line and answered
to our names. Orders were given to
march! We had to march about two
miles to the Raleigh depot.
It seemed to me that my bjandle of
bedding had turned into a whole great
big bed by the time we reached the de
pot. We all heard the train. It blew
the long whistle and moved off and we
were off for the war, billed for Rich
mond.
We arrived in Richmond in due time..
We had to march about four miles on
the north side of James river and it
was about the mlddie of the afternoon
when we got there, and as for my self
I was pre ty well broken down, after
lugging enough baggage for a whole
company myself. That trip learned me
a lesson about carrying baggage in war.
So I sent most from there back home,
; but it never got th re. The first day
j after we got there the bugle sounded
for us to fall in line. The noncommission
ed officers were appointed cannoneers,
gunners, drivers and so on.
j iUy ug turn from Richmond had puL
Ime on the sick list, at least I had a
■ little fever and did not fall in line, so I
J was not assigned to any place at all,
and at was providentially good for me,
it turned out lucky and very lucky.
About three days later we got orders
to join Stonewall Jackson at Gordons
ville. Here we will mention T. C~
Bras well, the boy spoken of further
back about the bread cast upon the
waters. My wife's nephew at about,
sixteen years of-age joined Capt. Ham
mon's company, at Rocky Mount. But
after awhile Capt. Hammon sent him
back on account of his sizei But by
this time he had grown a little larger
and become more resolute, and was on
his way with me in the company, but
had not been sworn in. Now back to
joining Jackson at Gordonville. The
bugle was blown to "fall in line,"
orders were given harness
up and ,vje raove
time." Every thing was in a "hurry
schurry." They wasted no time in
practice drilling. Things looked pretty
well mixed up and confused. At last I
felt mixed up myself. At about that
time Capt. Latham saw me. "What
place did I give you," he asked. I told
him he had not given me any place at
all. He told me he wanted me to take
charge of his forge. I asked him what
that was, and he said it was a black
smith shop on wheels. I told him i was
no blacksmith, he said that was alright
that he would give me two more men.
(To be continued.)
Young Nan Injured by Train.
Mr. J. S. Buck, an employe of the
Atlantic Coast Line, at South Rocky
Mount, was caught between the engine
and a car Friday, while coupling, and
his leg horribly mashed. His leg was
caught between the cylinder of the
shifter and the car and the flesh was
torn from the bone from the knee to
his body, nearly all of it, though the
bonas were not fractured. He was
taken to the A. C. L. Relief Hospital
| and up to the present; the limb has not
been amputated, but this will very
probably have to be done. Mr. Buck
is a young man whose home is at Win
terville, and his father and brother
came from chat place Sunday to be
with nirn.
4
J
Rocky Mount Tobacco Market.
Owing to the cold unsuitable weather
prevailing the past week, except of
leaf tobacco have been small, amount
ing to less than 150,000 lbs. Much of
the stock offered consisted of shipped
tobacco and rehandled warehouse to
bacco. such were more or less neglected.
Good tobacco, when it appeared, and
all grades at fresh country leaf com
manded close attention and prices were
high.
The market have continued activity
and good prices are expected to pre
vail from now until the season closes.
Plantbeds are being burned and
preparations for another crop are in
progress.
• The best investment ever desired for
small savings is a well managed Local
Building and Loan Association. The
Rocky Mount Homestead and Loan As
sociation has stood the test of time.
Six years of successful operation with
out the loss of one dollar is our record.
Call on R. L. Hnffines, Secretary and j
Treasurer for full information.
ROCKY MOUNT, N. C., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1908.
HAPPENINGS IN POLICE COURT.
Comedy and Tragedy of a Week as
Enacted In Calamity Hall Before
Mayor Thorp.
Friday morning Tom Rowe, colored,
was tried before his honor on the charge
of- fighting and the evidence developed
a more serious offence on which Rowe
was later convicted* He was fined $lO
in the first case and S3O in the other.
Saturday Bob Braswell was let off
with a fine of $5 for drunk and disorder
ly and taking the pledge not to drink
any more. Dave Battle, a colored boy
who stole a gun from the Opera house,
took the alternative of a sound whip
ping by an officer instead of a road sen
■ tence. The judgment was pronounced
at the request of the mother of the boy,
and she witnessed the flogging.
Monday morning George Allen, color
ed, for cursing on the street wes *fined
1 $5, and a white man named Collins,
1 from Middlesex, was required to pay
$7-50 for his failure to respect the law
against disorderly. -
When a man indulges in terpsichorean
' pastime he is bound by an inexorable
' law to remunerate the violinist. Which
reduced to common, every day English
is the old maxim that "who dances
- must pay the fiddier." Will Howeii
L found it thus, as all others have from
[ time immemorial, Tuesday morning
when he appeared before the bfirof jus :
tice to answer to the charge of wanton
and reckless conduct, if not wilful and
\ malicious, Monday night while under
the exhilarating influence of whiskey.
- At South Rocky Mount, when the Nor
folk and Richmond shooflys were stand
> ing on the track, being gotten ready for
southbound trip, Howell, in com
■ pany with two of his friends, came out
: of a restaurant for the they
1 said, of going to Wilson. Howell was
drunk, he said, and his statement was
corroborated by several witnesses, and
1 according to witnesses, proceeded to
; demonstrate that he was a bad man
» also, by heaving a vinegar cruet into
! the passenger coach with the result that
the window was smashed and a colored
boy on the train struck with the bottle
■ ifliu iTOii: fijiiig
ton act he went around the train and
without provocation struck the negro
porter, who was transferring baggage;
a vicious blow in the f ace. For the last
offence he was fined sls by Mayor
■ Thorp, and for throwing the bottle into
5 the car he was fined SIOO. Howell de
nies throwing the bottle into the car,
but a young white man testified that he
was standing near and saw him do it.
Levld on a Marriage License.
(Roanoke News.)
Mr. C. W. Dunn, of Scotland Neck,
one of the best tax collectors in the
state, sometimes adopts unique ways to
collect poll taxes. While in the register
of deeds office Monday, a small darkey,
all smiles, walked in an called for a
marriage license. While the ever
, polite and accommodating register of
deeds was engaged in asking the usual
questions Collector Dunn had one eye
on .the darkey and the other on the
license. Just at the moment wheu Mr. %
Fenner was about to exchange the
license for $3 in cool cash Mr. Dunn
reached forward and said- "I levy on
the license for this coon's taxes.
The jig was up. The applicant rea
lized that he must either then and
there pay his taxes or return home
without the necessary papers for a
wedding. He got busy at once, went
out among his friends, explained the
situation, and soon raised the necessary
funds to squar® himself with the tax
. collector and received his marriage
license with joy and returned home a
wiser coon than he ever was before.
Tbe New Teddy Bears.
(Tarboro Southerner.)
When the panic of '93 was most
acute, the Republicans following their
habit of charging everything unprobi
tious to the Democratic party, the holes
in a man's clothes, they called "Cleve
land's patches."
Time often works revenge. The
other day while a friend was telling
the writer that at R» cky Mount and
other points en the railroad, (here were
many locomotives mi .-i im idit, lai.j
ofc, so tuat the round hous s
could not fiold them, a hearer "butted
in:
"Do you know what they call those
idle engines?"
"No" was the answer.
"Teddy he bears" he rrrim'v answer* d
One hoire built • ach month for the
pa ,t six years is che record of Rocky
M->unt Homestead and Loan Association
Subscribe to the 12th series of stock
j due and payable February Ist, % 1908.
i R.L. Huffines. Secretary & Treasurer.
CHARGED WITH SHOOTING HIS WIFE.
W. D.aaw, a.Printer, is Held Under
$750 Bond to Court to Answer to
Most Serious Charoe.
W. £l/ Shaw, a printer who for the
past few months has been engaged at
Work Oti the Twin County Echo, of this
cky was, Wednesday morning bound
over to superior court under a $750
t ond on the charge of secret assault
y weapon with intent to
murder his wife. Examination was
waived by defendant's counsel when
case c?.noe up fpr preliminary hearing
be forejudge W. L. Thorp and only the
question of bond was argued by counsel
for prosecution and defense. Mr. E.
B. Grantham represented the prosecu
tion anil 31r. T. T. Thorne the de
fendant.
The which has created much
interest and speculation, is still shroud
ed in mystery inasmuch as contradictory
statements are made by Mrs. Shaw and
the defendant, and no evidence being
offered in court from which public
could deduce conclusion.
Mrs. Stew was shot in the head twice
ast Thursday morning about three
o'clock, with .32 calibre bullets
| from a .38 calibre pistol, one shot taking
w.".. ' forehead and one in the
back pact of tha.head. Neither pene
trated til* were flattened as a
coin, anc-Jthii fact (that the bullets did
not entef' the brain) is accounted for
on the theory that the cartridges were
too small for the pistol, the proximity
of the pistol to the lady's head and the
further fact that the pistol,- of the
British'fc.ill dog variety, was no good.
WheqMthe shooting took place, at Mr.
Pitts' llbme just beyond the Falls,
where Shaw and family boarded, there
was noMe in the room but Shaw, his
wife, aJIfo-year-old child and a five
weeks-end infant, all of whom were
sleeping t:; the same bed. Mr. Pitts,
being attracted by the pistol shots and
cries of b >th Shaw and his soon
reached the room and, found Mrs. Shaw
prostrate pn the f|«ior with the bullet
wounds,,, n her head. She. charged
she was
shot aWsßened her and she leape& from
the bed tnd tried to escape from the
room he again pointed the pistol in her
face aid fired. That neither bullet
caused the i-womans's death seems
miraeubus. Shaw denies in toto the
statement of his wife and says that she
shot herself; that he was aroused from
his sle«p by the first explosion and
tried to prevent his wife from further
attempting her life but did not do so
until she had fired the second shot. He
further states, it is reported, that his
wife is insane and has shown suicidal
mania before, has in fact, attempted
her life before to his own knowledge.
These are reports, only, and not evi
dence, consequently when the testi
mony is offered in the court the public
will be prepared to judge and not 'till
then.
Shaw is from Fayetteville and his
brother came frem there to his as
sistance. Shaw was arrested and in
default of SSOO bond was locked up
Saturday. Wednesday morning Judge
Thorp deemed the case of sufficient
seriousness to increase the bond to
$750. The maximum penalty for the
offence Shaw is charged with is 20
years in the penitentiary.
Mrs. Shaw is progressing towards re
covery rapidly and will it, is believed,
be able to get up soon.
WHITAKERS ITEMS.
i
Miss Ruth Moore, a young lady of
brilliant attainments, has returned
home from Sumter, S. C., where she
has been on a visit to her sLiter, Mrs.
Forest Taylor.
Mr. W. D. Lindsay, of Fremont,
traveling salesman, is in town.
Ex-Judere Jacob Battle, of Rocky
Mount, the pure, incorruptable and
profound jurist, was in town Saturday
on professional business.
Eld. A. J. Moore has been called to
preach at Richmond and Manchesta,
Va. Eld Moore is a forceful and elo
quant speaker, educated at the Univers
ity of North Carolina and well fitted
for an# position that he may be called
to. * *
Mr. M. C. Bras%»ellf of Battleboro,
one f the most prominent merchants
in Eastern Carolina, was here to day.
Mr. Zeno Mann, who has been resid
ing in Rocky Mount for several years,
is at. home now, helping his father, O.
D. Mkbh in the mercantile business.
There is very little cotton coming to
this market at present. There has been
large receipts of cotton seed and pea- \
nuts. We know pf no better point in
North Carolina where a cotton seed oil
mill and peanut factory would pay
better, for there seems to be no end to
the receipts and shipments.
The paric, state prohibition and the
May election is the topic now being dis
cussed which promises to be pretty
lively and heated. Get ready Mr;
"Puritan" for the battle.
Mr. J. E. Dickens, who has been sick
and critically ill for so long, is able to
be up at his place of bmsiness and
shaking hands with his numerous
friends.
Judge Hargis Hilled by His Son.
Jackson, Ky., Feb. 6.—Former
County Judge James Hargis, for many
years member of the state Democratic
Executive Committee, accused of com
plicity in many killings and a promi
nent figure in the feuds which have dis
puted Breathitt county for several
years, was shot and instantly killed in
his general store here about 3:30 p. m*
today, by his son, Beach Hargis. The
son fired five shots in rapid succession
at his father, who fell dead while his
clerks were waiting on. customers. The
ekact cause of the murder has not been
learned, but it is supposed to have
been the result of differences which
existed between father and son for
some time. The two men are reported
to have had a severe quarrel several
years ago when the father, it is alleged,
was compelled to resort to violence to
restrain his son. Young Hargis, it is
said, had been drinking heavily of late.
A Handsome Soda Eountaln.
Griffins Drug Store has installed an
exceedingly handsome "Innovation"
sanitary soda fountain at considerable
expense and is now prepared better
than ever to cater to the wants of the
thirsty ones. It is indeed a beautiful
apparatus and especially constructed
with an eye to convenience in keeping
the syrups and all other appurtenances
free from anything that is deleterious
to health. With the counter service,
easily accessible and in full view this is
is mahogany, witfe a large mirror and
eiwcric light fixtures to give the whole
a very pretty effect. The handsome
"Innovation" fountain will no doubt
prove a great drawing card to the lovers
of the delicious, sweet cool drinks dis
pensed at soda fountains, and with the
excellent service always to be had at
this popular drug store will increase
the patronage to a great g:ftent.
The Grip is Defined.
Sufferers with the grip, of which
there are many in this section will ap
preciate the following from The Char
lotte Observer, if one with the grip can
appreciate anything which is doubtful.
"'Squire S. H. Hilton sat in his office
at the court house yesterday and in
dulged in divers speculations. The
subject of grip came within ths pale of
his sophistry and he essayed to define
the feeling that as yet has never been
reduced to understandable solution.
"I think the grip is a delusion which
makes a man think he is well while he
is still sick, a kind of a start-out and
then give-out game, a feeling without
gravitational elements, misery, discon
tentment, disgust, aversion, antipathy,
isolation, dread, fear, trembling, un
easiness, bitterness —these are a few of
the mixtures that go into the distinct
entity of that little disease known as
the grip."
The Citizens Bank and the Bank of
Kinston, the two leading banks of
Kinston, will be converted into national
banks with a capital of SIOO,OOO each.
While despondent and disgusted with
'life Mary Taylor, a colored woman of
65, jumped into a 20 foot well at Kins
ton, in an attempt to commit suicide.
The water was not deep enough to
drown her, b"t it was cold and the old
woman changed her mind about dying
and cried for help.
Tfhere are 1000 civil cases on the
doflcet in Guilford county, and it is
said the docket could not be cleared if
court was to sit for a year. ,
The money stringency has apparently
subsided and tbe Rocky Mount Home
stead and Loan Association has emerged
from the period of depressfon with a
feeling of pride that loans have been
granted and all stock surrenders have
been paid on demand without discount.
The 12th series of stock will be open
for subscription February Ist, 1908.
Call on R. L. Huffines, Secretary and
Treasurer.
PRICE 5 CENTS
CALL OF ANTI-SALOON LEAGUE.
State Committee Issues Hinging Ap*
peal to Temperance Forces to
Rally to State Prohibition Cause.
Raleigh, N. C.
To the people of North Carolina:
We, and others of the Anti-Saloon
League called the temperance forces
together to meet in convention in the
City of Raleigh, on Jan. 21st. The
great convention that assembled unani
mously asked the present Legislature
to give the State a statutory law against
the manufacture and sale of liquor at
the present session, but a majority of
the members ot the Legislature, after
considering the matter, decided to sub
mit the question to a vote of the peo
ple. The "Long-Dowd" bill is now a
law. It is a composite bill prepared by
the best thought of temperance men in
the State. It is not as stringent as -
some of us would like it to be, but it is
an extension of the Watts and Ward
bills to the whole State. On Tuesday,
May 26th, the issue will be presented to
the people of North Carolina, are you
•"For or against the manufacture and
sale of intoxicating liquors?,' The
praise for this issue being submitted to
the people of North Carolina is due to
the great heart of the masses of its
citizenship demanding thi3 reform, the
ministers of the Gospel of peace and
good will towards men, those Sen' tors
and Representatives who voted for the
bill, most of the press of the State, the
Educators of the State, and to those
splendid men: Senator F. M. Sim
mons, Judge Jeter C. Pritchard, Ex-
Gov. Thomas J Jarvis, Gov. Robt. B.
Glenn, Ex-Gov 6has. B. Aycock, Jose
-1 phus Daniels, Hugh G. Chatham, S.
Mclntyre, J. A. Hartness, Henry A.
' London, G. W. Watts, T. H. Vander
ford, J. J. Rogers, Henry A. Page,
' Frank R. McNinch, W. C. Newland, A.
1 D. Watts, H.»G. Fennell, J.H.Tucker,
' J. D. McCall, Settle Dockery, A. D.
* Ward, J. H. Pou, W. N. Jones, L. L.
3 Smith. N. B. Broughton, W. H. Sprunt
3 E. T. Cansler, Jas. I. Johnson, Clarence
> fH. Poe, Geo. P. Pell, R. B. White, W.
3 jl. Everett, Cameron Morr ; fgj. ~F. S.
! ' : r
* W. S. O'Lf Robitoson, EM » I
1 A'. M. Scales, R. Lee Wright, J. WT 2
* Bailey, W. F, Snyder, R. L. Madison,
! W. T. Shaw, J. L. Choat, W. B.
; Cooper, Virgil S. Lusk, *W. B. Smoot
' and others* The bill leaves intact the
higher local prohibitory laws now in
! force in the several counties.
We have patiently borne for years
1 the galling yoke of the saloon, distil
lery and drink evil with all their at
tending curses and woes. The time has
come when this enemy to the human
family must;be destroyed. No family,
i high or low, rich or poor, has not felt
the awful curse of the drink habit. It
is the canker worm that has eaten into
the heart of the body politic; it has
made the sweet water of life bitter;
i the tears that have been shed by an
■ army of mourners speak to our heads as
well as our hearts.
"In the sweetest bud,
The eating canker dwells."
No race is k exempt; especially is it
injurious to the negro, to whom, the
i white i race owes a duty. The people of
i the State, in tfle generations gone by,
I have resisted to the lost ditch tyrannj
; and oppression, cruelty and wrong.
■ The power is with them and they are
once more called upon to do battle in a
righteous cause. Be not deceived with
: false argumeuts. The business man
; and corporation no longer want one who
i drinks in their employment: The Mill
and Manufacturing towns of the State
have refused *o license the traffic
fraught with such evil to the moral and
: material prosperity of the community.
! How wonderfully they have prospered
by so doing!
This issue appeals to men St all
parties; to men of all creeds; it is above
party, above creed, above nationalities;
it is a matter of conscience. With
malice toward none, and with an eye
single to the public good, we call upon
all to join with us in the contest. If
any have made, wittingly or unwitting
ly entangling alliances, hurtful to them
selves or the good of the human family,
we appeal to them to sever their con
nection with the "body of this death,"
re-assert their freedom and manho «d
and enter the contest. We especiail>
appeal to those who have been again v
us in the past to forget ail differences
for the public good and enter this con
test. It is a contest against the saloon,
distillery and drink evil, and not against
the man; and of merit and morals, -and
not of men and politics.
Friends of temperance, organize,
work, watch and pray. If this is done
victory is ours.
JNO. A. OATES,
Chairman Executive Committee.
HERIOT CLARKSON,
President of State Convention,
R. L. DAVIS,
State Organizer.
a