North Carolina Newspapers

d'? rn7nrr? crfrmn at tjh? rn-"tiim-tv nmr miw warn? wonnr- ? luiu u.uu.il ill Jliii VUiiiiiiUiUl 1 IJUiLtlmu lUlUUUl ll O U LLuc-. . . " t and Fri- . C. '. I. r tonight with "t northwest winds. - O- , CIRCULATION Wednesday 1,840 Copies ' in f. ' r-'r-. )L. XII. FINAL EDITION ELIZABETH CITY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 28, 1922 FOUR PAGES NO. 307 -1 r-i i iAL QUESTIONS IN J c legation Which Has Just Sailed for United States to Negotiate War Debt Agreement Ex pected to Bring to Climax Matters Which Have Been Hanging Fire for Several Months. By DAVID LAWRENCE ' w Tcopyrlght 1922 by The Advance) Washington,', D"ec. 27. Great Britain's delegation which haa just sailed for the United States to negotiate an agree ment whereby the rate of interest and the annual payments on the war debt shall be definitely fixed for a period of years will bring to a climax a half dozen vital questions which have been hanging iire for several months. Representative .'Mondell, Re publican leader,-..who talked with President. Harding at length today on the question Ci an economic conference, di :losed after leaving the White House some of the difficulties which stand in the .way of ne gotiating with the allied gov ernments. "The very peojfle," he said, "who recently were limiting the powers of the debt commission are now loud lu their clamor for an economic con lerence." ' - In other words, the administra tion, finds its hands tied by the act of Congress which not only fixed an Interest rate admittedly too high for the Allies to pay at once but fixed 25 years as the period of payment for the whole debt. The administration has been con sidering whether to ask Congress to amend the law creating the funding commission and give that body more flexibility. But to do so might dis close the administration's hand ' in the negotiations with the fore'eu governments. To make an agree ment with the British delegation, however, and then go to Congress with a request for amendment would not be so satisfactory to the foreign -delegates. They have plenary pow ers. They are accustomed to deal -with governments which have the power to do what they say they will. If the agreement has to foe thrown into Congress to be debated and pos sibly delayed unduly while foreign schange fluctuates from day to day according as the prospects for pass age of the agreement go up and down, the British,-. would naturally wait till Congress acted. The dilemma is one of the rr.ost perplexing that has ' ever faced the American Government. The execu tive has the power to negotiate agreement with foreign govern ment which do not commit the United States to certain obligations. If it had not been for the law passed by Congress which specifically re nnfres auhmiRsInn to hnth Houses there would not be any difficult). If its a broad question really whether the executive couldn't make an agreement anyhow . covering the funding of the debt but. in the face of what Congress has specified, Mr. Harding will not try it. He will-either ask for an amendment to the exist'ng law when it is apparent the issuing; a new series of Government negotiations have reached a vital bonds at 4 lower rate of interest j oint or he will ask for broad pow- something which Is practically be ers 'before the negotiations begin. In : jng jone by the treasury certificate t' ;t t case he will have to keep the j pian anyhow. Intish delegation waiting while! Most of the members of the Am- plenary powers are obtained irom . Congress. The negotiations arise from the fact that when five billions were borrowed by Great Britain, only a promissory note was given in re- turn. That note has, now to be con-j verted into bonds with a definite i iturlty date and a fixed rate of interest. Otto Kahn's proposal that the Interest for a few years "be de- f : rred altogether or that the rate be made very low at the start and gradually Increased, meets with a. good deal of favor here. While very little progress has been. made in the regotiatlons with policy. And the kernel of the whole th French government on the debtjtbing will be a centralization of h.n, the feeling prevails that authority either the Executive t;-.' aRreement made with the Brlt-;mugt have a free hand to negotiate i will stand as a sort of precedent 0T Congress with its unwieldy ma or example and that when once Eng-ichlnery must undertake to conduct :,;.,! and the United States have ar-! mercag foreign relations. The r - their debt difficulties satlsfae- 8ame obstruction from Congress t , the negotiations with the oth- which lnterferred with the efforts er .-. ernmentg will be simplified. ; of the last administration to handle I ' titally there Is already a foreign relations are cropping out 1 of discussion here as to,again and no Democrat ever said 1 be done with the five bU-iniore severe things about the "Irre- wlw lion the r.ri' re i of ibonds to be given to 1 TUites Government by the There are those who advo n:;ing campaign whereby are sold to the public at American Government t Into the treasury five h which to re- - ! "1 bo'i'll BALANCE BRITISH ENVOYS ARRIVE Today Is Wilson's Sixty-sixth Birthday Washington, Dec. 28 (By The As sociated Press) Woodrow Wilson expected to spend his sixty-sixth birthday quietly today. The Wilson Foundation Committee calls at three o'clock this afternoon. Washington, Dec. 28 (By The As sociated Press) Without debate and with a chorus of ayes from Dem ocratic senators and silence from most of the Republicans, the Sen ate today adopted the resolution of fered iby Senator Harris of Georgia expressing the "pleasure land Joy of the Senate" upon the recovery to ward health of former President Wil son. British Ships Are Sent to Near East Malta, Dec. 28 (By The Associ ated Pres&J As the result of unsat isfactory news from Lausanne it is; understood that ships of the British Mediterranean fleet which arrived j here Saturday for a three weeks visit! have received orders to return to ! the Near East. It is believed that! all available vessels are preparing to leave today. DR. M'KOIX LOSES FIGHT Baltimore, Dec. 28 (By The As sociated Press) Dr. McKoin today lost his fight for Immediate release on habeas corpus and remanded in jail to give Louisiana authorities op portunity to present their case. Allied Delegates Say It's Deadlocked Lausanne, Dec. 28 (By The As sociated Press) The meeting of thej commission on capitulations today failed to make progress, some of the Allied delegates saying that the con ference had reached a deadlock pend ing the arrival of new Turkish In structions. - On such an operation the American j Government might save a deal of j money but the opponents of the! plan point out that the 'British I bonds wouldn't be purchased gen erally unless they were guaranteed or underwritten by the Treasury Department of the United States Government in which case they would amount to the same thing as erCan Funding Commission favor keeping the British bonds in the American treasury and turning the interest Into the general fund as an offset to the interest payments wn!ch the American Government makeg reg;ularly on Liberty Bonds, They tnink tns wju involve less risk t0 the pubHc and will at the same tlme ten(j t0 prevent fluctuations in tlle value of the British bonds whenever European politics develops a CI.gg or war cloud, The arrival of the British mission will compel the administration, however, to formulate a definite concilable" Borahs and LaFollettes than is being said more or less open ly in administration quarters about that group today. The executive of- ; ficlals claim that Congress Is not ! closely In touch with what Is going on and that resolutions to call' eco nomic conferences at opportune mo mur'i v : not help solve interna t i ' ns any more thnn rlld - bands of a fund'!T TWO WOUNDED IN GUN FIGHT And Town Of Follnitshee Is Rccov ci-iiiK From Lust Night's Terrors Steubenvllle, Ohio, Dec. 28 (By The Associated Press) Joseph Jones,- mill worker and Deputy Sheriff Harry Jones of Brook County, West Virginia, lay wounded In hos pitals and Follansbee, a little town Just across the river, was recovering today from the terrors of a gun bat tle between 'Jones and officials last night during which houses were pelted with hundreds of bullets from machine guns, pistols, rifles and riot guns. ""The fighting started when of ficers tried to arrest Jones on his wife's complaint that he forced her to sign over her property to him. MBS. W. It. SMITH DEAD Mrs. W. R. Smith died Wednes day night at eleven o'clock at the Community Hospital, where she was taken Wednesday morning following a serious illness of two weeks. She was forty-four years old and is survived by her husband; one daughter, Louise; four sisters, Mrs. L. W. Plgott of Norfolk, Misses Net tle, Florence and Mattle Markham of this city; two 'brothers, T. J. Markham and J. B. Markham of this city. The funeral will be conducted at the heme on Raleigh avenue Friday afternoon at three o'clock by Rev. H. E. Myers and interment will be made In Hollywood. Lodge and Hughes Talk With Harding Washington, Dec. 28 (By The As sociated Press)Chairman Lodgepf the Senate foreign relations com mittee was summoned to the yhlte House today and after a talk with the President indicated that Hard ing probably would send a letter to the Capitol during the day Indicating his attitude toward the new econo mic and disarmament conference plan. 'Lodge's visit was followed closely by a conference between the President and Secretary Hughes.. Washington, Dec. 28 (By The As sociated Press) The President ask ed the Senate not to adopt the Bo rah proposal saying In a letter to Lodge that formal Congressional ac tion now would embarrass him In negotiations he Is already conducting looking to such a conference.. Just what steps have been taken or are In contemplation was not revealed. Lodge said negotiations for the con ference did not Include cacellatlon of the Allied debt. SEARCH FOR BODY Gastonla, Dec. 28 (By The Asso ciated Press) The search is con tinued for E. J. Eddlngs, believed to have been burned to death in the Underwood boarding house fire at Bessemer City, which claimed two lives. Says Misdemeanor Rather Than Felony Senator Brown Of Seventeenth Dis trict Would Amend Raggett Antl-Klan Itill Madison, N. C, Dec. 28 (By The Associated Press) Announcement that he would support legislation to make a person appearing off his premises disguised so as to destroy identity guilty of a misdemeanor; to provide, aid for the family of an officer killed while lawfully discharg ing his duties, and to establish uni form traffic laws In the State was made to The Associated Tress today by Senator Junius C. Brown, of the Seventeenth district. "I have never read the bill which Senator Raggett proposes to Intro duce with - regard to the Ku Klux Klan," said the senator, "but I see no reason why a person found off his premises disguised so as to destroy Identity should (be declared guilty of a felony, which I understand Is proposed In the Dag gett measure. I would support a bill making such an offense a mis demeanor, I will present a measure, or an amendment to Senator Rag gett's bill, making the offense a mis demeanor rather than a felony. "I believe that the traffic taws oi this and adjoining states should be made uniform In order that owners lor motor vehicles may better under stand them; that all vehicles oper ating upon the highways at night i should he provided with lights. If 1 It ran h worked out. and I think it can be, I favor requiring the pur chaser of a second handcar to ob tain a certificate showing the Im portant facts concerning it, which l . . -inn could be used In the p (.f thieves. Smoker Tonight At Eight O'clock Tonight at' llit o'clock very member of the Chamber of Commerce, accompanied by a friend who Is or ouuht to be interested In his town, Is urged to attend a smoker at the Community linihliiiK. One of the matters which the Chamber of Commerce will discuss will he the recent re moval of Coast Guard equip ment and personnel to Manteo. A ood time noclally is on the program, as well as mat ters of vital importance to the growth mid betterment of Elizabeth City. SPORTSMEN DINE AT CHARLOTTE Movement Inaugurated At Dinner For Statewide Game And Fisli Ijiw Charlotte, Dec. 28. (By Associated Press.) A movement to substitute a State-wide game and fish law in North Carolina for the present sys tem by which the individual coun ties control hunting and fishing will be-Inaugurated at a dinner here to night, to which spotsmen from all sections of the State have been In vited. Plans for fish and game conserva tion also will be discussed, and Geo. A. Lawyer, chief game warden of the United States department of Ag riculture, has accepted an Invitation to address the meeting and describe! how this is accomplished In other states. Mr. Lawyer will be Intro duced by Governor Cameron Mor rison, who also will deliver an ad dress. H. H. Brlmley, curator of the State Museum at Raleigh and presi dent of one of the largest hunting clubs of the State, Is slated as an other speaker. John M. Moorehead, of Charlotte, formerly congressman from the Fifth district, and numbers of other sportsmen from this sec tion have - taken an active part in plans for the conference. Preliminary arrangements call for formation of an association the rep resentatives of which will go before the General Assembly In January to urge enactment of a uniform State game and fish law, which would pro vide for charging hunters and fish ermen a nominal license fee. The funds from this would be used to maintain the law and to provide eventually for State game preserves and fish hatcheries. North Carolina Is one of the few states which has not already adopt ed -ttate-wlde laws on hunting, pro moters of the movement stated, and with the hunting season opening at different times in various counties much confusion has been caused among sportsmen. Local and nearby sportsmen have subscribed funds for the dinner, which is to be held at 7:30 o'clock at the chamber of commerce. More than 500 invitations have been mailed, according to Bailey Groome, sporting editor, of The Charlotte Ob server, who is In charge of reserva tions. LAIGHLIX-COUII Miss Bessie Cobb, daughter of; Mrs. Margaret Cobb of this city, and . G. L. Laughlin, automobile tire! manufacturer of Salisbury, were married Wednesday morning at about 7 o'clock at the home of the bride's sister, Mrs. Jasper Garrls, at Nor folk, and left on the 8 o'clock train for Florida and Cuba, where they will spend the months of Janjiary and February, after which they will be at home at Salisbury. IX lOLI('K COURT Frazier Miller, In police court ; Thursday morning, was taxed with the costs for crossing an Intersection I of highways at a speed greater than ten miles. , SAILBOAT TURNS OVER RUT HOYS ARE GAME When the sailboat, Seagull, turn ed over In the harbor here Thurs day morning all the boats nearby went rushing to the rescue, hut the four boys who had taken the stormy morning for a sail were safely perched on the side of the boat and only one of them so much as got wet. The boys were Mahlan uaper, owner of the Seagull, Harry Rollln son, Sam Lamb and Ebenezer Leary. Stewart Twlddy from Sanders rail ways went out In a boat and helped the boys right the Seagull, after which they cheerfully sailed home, perhaps wiser, but very little sad der. The Seagull Is a surf boat and belter fitted to undertake such an exm-rlment than the average sall ' ', ! ; r. R Evi sts Cc" t y! Dramatist Of Open Trail Likes, IJrant Shooting At Christmas j Hotter Than .New York "Shooting wild fowl on the North Carolina banks Is a better way to spend Christinas than staying in New York." At least that's what Rex Beach thinks of It, for the words Just quot ed were his own and they were' spoken to a reporter for this news paper in the lobby of the Southern Hotel Thursday morning. But per haps Mr. Beach is a prejudiced witness. His stories and his love of the great outdoors have won him the title of "dramatist of the open trails." Mr. Beach became acquainted with the North Carolina Banks twelve seasons ago, and he has been visit ing them every season since. Many folks here In Elizabeth City read his story, "The White Brant," In the September Cosmopolitan, because somehow word had got about around the town that Beach had spent the past season on th banks getting the local color for this story. But the author wrote of an Island on which; there was no Jail, on which there' were wide stretches of "marsh, de-! void of life except for a few head of half wild cattle," and at one end of which was a village "loosely sprawl-! ed around and about a high white lighthouse" with "a sandy road that! served as a main street," with! "weather beaten dwellings set down! at random amid luxuriant growths: of cedar and of fragrant bay bushes' through which meandered many paths and crooked roadways," andi of a day of shooting ducks, brant and ! geese from a battery In the course! of which a white brant was saved! from a bawk, with an intimacy born I of twelve seasons of good shooting along the banks for himself. And all this was, of course, but the back ground for a love story that had to do with a girl snatched from the claws of a millionaire bird of prey In the nick of time told in typical Rex Beach style. Though a regular sojourner on the Carolina ibanks, this wag Mr. Beach's first stop In Elizabeth City. Heretofore he had hunted from Hat teras southward. His party went farther northward because of a re port that the wild fowl were more plentiful on the more northerly banks this season. "We did not find the wild fowl In their usual abund ance." he said, "but we got some good brant shooting just the same." Rex Beach Is as big and friendly looking as his pictures with bushy brows that meet over deep set eyes. He has the typical hunter's quickness of motion and the typical New Yorker's quickness of speech. Mr. Beach left for New York on the afternoon Norfolk Southern train Thursday. TODAY'S COTTON MARKET New York, Dec. 28 (By The As sociated Press) Bids at 11:45 a. m. today were: January 26.32, March 26.60, May 26.64, July 26.37. Tone, steady. New York, Dec. 28 (By The Asso ciated Press) Futures closed to day: January 26.47, March 26.69, May 26.69, July 26.42, October 24.66. Spots closed, middling basis, 26.70. Tone, quiet. NAMED DIRECTOR OF HIGHWAY CONTRACTORS Richmond, Dec. 28 (By The Asso-j ciated Press) Robert W. Voodley. ofFalrfax, former member Of the; Interstate Commerce Commission and! director ot-publicity for the Demo cratic national committee, has ac-j cepted a position as managing dlrec- tor of the Virginia Highway Con tractors Association, R. B. Allport announced today. Wholesale Grocery At Charlotte Burns Charlotte, Dec. 28 (By The Asso ciated Press) The building and con tents of Thomas & Howard Com pany, wholesale grocers, was destroy ed by fire of unknown origin today. The loss Is estimated at as high as a hundred thousand dollars. S. S. ENTERTAINMENT AT CITY ROAD TONIGHT A Christmas entertainment will be given at City Road tonight for the Sunday school. The hour is 7:30 nnil Sutierlntendent G. F. Seyffert hopes that the hoys and girls will be on hand, with their mothers and 0PEN MND GOES TO RALEIGH Senator P. H. Williams Has No Statewide Leg islative Program, But Would Amend Charter Without any pet legislative pro gram and with open mind on many of the proposals for the enactment of laws of Statewide scope. Senator P. H. Williams of the First North Caro lina Senatorial District will leave -Elizabeth City for Raleigh next week to represent his district in the upper house of the General Assembly. "I am a new man," said Mr. Wil liams, "and even such proposals as that to take the State banks from under the supervision of the Cor poration Commission, creating a new commission to supervise the banks, I do not feel sufficiently Informed on to express an opinion. I will say, however, that some of these propo sals seem rather radical to me. "I do plan, however, to offer cer tain amendments to the charter of Elizabeth City, he most Important of these, in my opinion, is one to create a pu'bllc utility commission for Elizabeth City. I am thoroughly persuaded that such a commission Is a necessity for the town that owns and operates its own utilities. I re call, for Instance, that at Greenville ... ....... .1 ... . .. i . , we iuuiiu a imobi tauiii man inueeu In charge of the public utilities. Good men," he said, "were slow to accept a position to operate muni cipal plants on account of the poll tics that usually hampered such a man. The Greenville superintendent declared, however, that with the Greenville utilities under a public utility commission, politics had not bothered him. "The Council's bill proposes a com mission of three men elected to serve for terms of from two to six years. In the future only one com missioner would be changed at the time and thus a consistent Dollcy could be formed and adhered to. "Another amendment to the char ter that 1 expect to propose would prevent a complete change of the personnel of the City Council every two years. This amendment would provide that at the ixt election the candidate from each ward receiving the highest number of votes would be declared elected for four years. v The other candidate chosen from that ward would be declared elected for two years, and at the end of two yeara and every two years thereaf ter fournew members or the Coun cil would be elected, leaving always four old members to (be retained. When the present administration went into office, fof Instance, seven of the eight members of the Council were new and had dealt with the city's problems in an intimate prac tical way." Mr. Williams also spoke, favorab ly of the Idea of creating a city planning commission, though he did not go to the length of saying that he would Introduce a bill amending the city charter to that end. NINE MEN ARE KILLED WHEN FORT BLOWS UP Rome, Dec. 28 (By The Associ ated Press) Nine men were killed today when Fort Neartren blew up when the accidental explosion of a shell set off other ammunition. Debris Is scattered for miles around. ARMOUR MAKES STATEMENT Chicago, Dec. 28 (By The Associ ated Press) Armour & Company of Delaware, the new corporation iu the Armour string, was organized to acquire from the Illinois company "certain of Its properties and assets for the purpose of facilitating the ad ministration and financing of Its business," said a statement Issued by J. Ogden Armour today . EXPI-OSION INJURES THIRTY Kansas City, Dec. 28 (By The As sociated Press) More than thirty persons were Injured as the result of a dust explosion and fire In the flour mills here Wednesday. UNEASINESS SPREADS IN CONFERENCE CIRCLES Lausanne, Dec. 28 (By The Asso ciated Press) Great uneasiness spreads through conference circles as the time for the final reckoning approaches on unsettled questions between the Turks and Allies. EXTENDS HME ONE YEAR Washington, Dec. 28 (By The As sociated Press) The President h.n signed a bill extending for yi i" the time for German ; I Au ii citizens to sue t ) r- - j-r-