HIS LAST SHOT
Boy, 16, Who Always Liked To Hunt And Kill With
An Ever Ready Gun, Lands In Murderer's Cell
Charged With Death Of His Teacher
By HAROLD MATHON
NKA Service Staff Writer
Amhert. Ma., June 5-?Roland |
?lacDonald. 16. overgrown, furtive,
a boy of the woods, liked most to
prowl alone in the hills, gun in
kand.
Everybody In Amherst knew of
the boy Roland's skill with a gun.
When he was a small boy ue was a
good hunter. Birds were easy
prey for him. He stalked big gwme.
And he loved to skin his game, and
clean It. Oftimes. when the sport
in the woods palled on him he car
ried his hunting to within the limits
of this small town. Pets fell under
his fire.
Whang! The report of his gun
could be heard echoing out of the
woods, and the 200 residents of Am
herst knew what Roland was killing
again. To them he was the town's
"bad boy," and accepted as such.
Surely, his mother could not be
blamed for there were nine younger
brothers and sisters, and his father
worked In the woods.
One day at dusk the boy was re
turning from the woods, gun in
hand. Near the Williams' house, oin
a secluded trail, he heard a rustle, i
With the Instinct of a hunter the!
boy concealed himself in the bushes.
A girl walked the path. Roland|
recognized her. She was his teach-1
er, Louise Oerrish, 19, "from out of,
town."
Roland didn't like school. He|
was always the oldest boy in his
class. And then there was that mon-j
ey the teacher had collected from
pupils for selling little bottles of
perfume for a mall order company.!
Whang! The people of Amherst'
heard the echoing report and knew;
that Roland was killing agalu.
The following day the teacher!
failed to appear at school. When It'
became known that she was mysteri
ously missing a searching party wasj
organized. Roland, the boy with the
gun. Joined the party.
On the trail, near the Williams'
house they discovered tracks, and
then a patch of freshly tilled soil un
der a tree. Roland helped them dig
into the soft earth. He helped them
lift the body of Louise Gerrish, shot
in the breast.
The sheriff was baffled. Ho held
the young teacher's men friends and
questioned. He questioned everyone
of the 200 people In Amherst, but
there was no clue. Then special de
tectives Were called from the big ci
ty. . They turned their attention to
Roland. Casually, almost boastful
ly, he confessed, according to the de
tectives.
"I don't know why 1 killed her,"
he said. "She was coming and I had
my gun cocked and ready. When
she saw me I fired. I didn't bury
her body then because it was snpper
time. But I came back in the morn
ing."
Unmotlonally the boy took the of
ficers to the scene of the murder.
He described In detail how he killed
WARREN BRANDS |
CHARGES FALSE
Replies in Detail to Charges
Made by W. T. Ward in Let
ter to Editor W. O. Saun
ders.
In a statement received through
the mail by voters here Wednesday,
Lindsay C. Warren of Washington,
N. C., denies in strongest terms the
charges made against him by W. T.
Ward in a letter addressed to W. O.
Saunders' editor of the Elizabeth
City Independent.
Referring first to the charge that
he was the paid lobbyist In 1921 of
the Southern Fower Company, Mr.
Warren, after denouncing the charge
as an "infamous, slanderous lie,"
proceeds to explain:
"In 1921, during the closing daya
of the Legislature, the Cotton Mill
Trust of Western North Carolina
composed of over one hundred cot
ton mills, representing a total capi
tal of over $400,000,000 .appeared
before the Legislature with a bill
to upset by law a decision that oui
highest court had already decided
against them. In other words whei
they lost their case in the Court)
they tried to get the Legislature t<
win their case for them. This Mil
Trust had ovtr 40 lawyers, repre
sentlng them from every part o
North Carolina. They tried to em
ploy me, and I refused their employ
ment because 1 believed that the!
cause was wrong. With five othe
lawyers 1 did represent the 8outheri
Power Co. One of these five wai
Hon. J. C. B. Ehrlnghaus of Kllza
beth City who Is supporting his fel
low townsmen, Mr. Aydlett. As i
lawyer representing my client I mad<
a fifteen minute talk before the com
mlttee hearing the matter. Not on
member of the General Assembl;
can say that 1 ever discussed th<
matter with him or approached hln
In any way. Mr. Ehrlnghaus and
represented onr client together wltl
oar three other associates, as an:
other lawyer would do, and we woi
our case. The statement signed b;
Ward that this matter caused th
poorer people of the State to pa:
more for power la a deliberate am
unqualified falsehood."*
As to the charge that he was i
paid lobbyist for the moving plctur
Interests when the censorship bll
?Wat killed, Mr. Wnrren contents him
ROLAND MacDONALD, 16. HELD FOR THE MURDER OF HIS
TBACHER. MISS LOUISE OERRI8H. IN THE LOWER PICTURE HE
IS SHOWN POINTING TO THE SPOT (MARKED BY THE CROSS)
WHERE HER BODY WAS FOUND IN A WOODS NEAR AMHERST.
MAINE.
the girl. He pointed to the grave.
He crawled into the shallow hole to ,
ehow how he had placed the body. |
"I Just set her body against the j
i tree over niKht." he said, dismissing |
I the incident as he might tell of his i
bagging a deer. "But she didn't havo 1
[that school money with her, so I took
her watch."
All of that is what the detectives
allege.
Now Roland is in jail, a bit dazed,'
but. unrepentent.
And Amherst, secluded Maine!
woods town, knows that it won't
hear the whang of Roland's gun any,
more, and school is suspended while
another teacher Is being sought.
self with a flat denial of the charge
without explanation. I
Mr. Warren characterizes aa an
"unqualified lie" tho charge that he
nerved as a paid lobbyist for the
banks of tho State "when thoy want-]
ed special legislation to reduce their |
taxes," He explains thus:
"In 1921, when the Revenue Bill ,
was drawn a clerical error was made ;
in the paragraph taxing banks. My ;
friend Mr. A. M. Dumay of my town
was President of the Stale Bankers
Association. He employed me to ap
pear before the Committee as his
attorney to point out this mistake.
Hon. R. A. Doughton, now State
; Revenue Commissioner, who drew
I every Revenue Bill in this State for
'over 20 years told the committee that
I a mistake had been made, and the
legislature at once corrected it. Ask
any bunker in North Carolina and he
I will tell you that this statement Is
correct."
The charge that he was the paid
lobbyist of the hotels against a bill
to protect the health of the travel
ling man he contents himself with
(denouncing as an unqualified lie and
'' lets it go at that.
.\ As to his attitude toward the pro
posed State ship and water transpor
tation system. Mr. Warren says:
. I "The Legislature was asked ai
I. once to vote Two Million Dollars ol
, the people's money to buy stean
boats and build docks. I did oppos<
, such a proposition, together with the
j large majority of the General As
. sembly. 1 took the position that be
I fore North Carolina should enter in
. rto this scheme that the matter ough
. j first to be investigated. My fellov
r'members agreed with me on thl!
r; proposition, and followed my lead
, ershlp, and we ordered an Investl
9 gallon. The leader In favor of th<
. | Investigation In the Senate was Sena
. tor P. H. Williams of Elisabeth City
i who Is supporting his townman Mr
? Aydlett. The complete and absolut
. soundness of my stand Is shown b
e the report of this Investigation Com
^1 mittee Issued Just a few days age
B when they said the bill could no
, be put In effect by an expenditure o
I Two Million Dollars, but that 1
Ul would require Seven Million Dollar
or even more. Since this report has
?been filed public spirited citizens
from every section of North Carolina
have voluntarily written me congra
ulatlng me upon the vision that I
showed in this matter. I have nev
er represented a railroad company
in my life and have always appeared
against them."
Mr. Warren also charges E. F.
Aydlett of this city with responsibil
ity for the circulation of the Ward
letter throughout the district and
this charge has called forth a state
ment of denial from Mr. Aydlett.
.published elsewhere In this issue.
Everyman's Investments
ornowam z.svcn%
By George T. Hughes
Mr. Hughe* is a bond expert
and aiiulvxt with man* years' ac
tive newspaper experience. Er
ery week day of the year he writes
an interpretive dispatch from
New York concerning the activi
ties of the day in the bond mar
ket. He has prepared this series
of articles for Advance readers at
the request of th? Consolidated
? Press Association.
TWENTY-THIRD ARTICLE
Customer Ownership
? One of the most encouraging de
velopments of the times in th? in
| vestment business is the spread of
the customer ownership idea. So
I far this new plan has been onfined
I to the public utilities, principally
I the electric light and power and the
j gas companies. It used to be the
[ custom when a public utility needed
I new capital, and they are continual
ly in need of new capital, for the
officers to go to the bankers and sell
'securities, stock if possible and
I bonds if necessary. This financing.
' howev? r. was done in the great cen
! ters such as Wall Street where new
j capital is to be had. The people who
? bought the service the public-Trttltty
J hud to sell had nothing to do with
financing. The new idea is to go dl
! rect to the utility's customers when
' new money is needed. Of course it
1 cannot be raised this way or even the
larger part. Dut enough can be done
as has been abundantly proved to
I give the customers of the utility a
direct and personal interest in its
welfare. For the most part the se
curities sold have been in the form
of preferred stock and generally the
salesmen have been the employes
, of the company. From the corpora
| tion's standpoint the plan has proved
a success not only in developing a
I new source of capital but Id culti
< rating a spirit of good-will Id the
community which has a very real if
; intangible value. From the stand
point of the customer owner the
plao has proved beneficial Id that he
has beeo able to obtaiD a sound se
curity with reasonable return and
one with the progress of which he is
able to keep Id close touch. The
amouDt of mjDey which can be
raised io this way is far beyond the
estimates made by those who first
suggested the plao. It has also re
sulted in keepiog for the commuoity
the capital which might otherwise
have beeo dissipated io buying fraud
ulent promotion stocks. It has met
the criticism that opportunities for
the safe iDvestmeot of staall sums
-have been lacking because it was too
expensive for investment bankers to
cater to the investor who had only
one hundred dollars spare capital.
The public utility can well afford
this expense in return for the co
operation they secure from their cu*i
i tomers. ?,
(Mr. Hughes* twenty-fourth arti
cle will appear in an early issue of
The Daily Advance.)
Mrs. C. E. Overman left Saturday
to attend the fuoeral of Lee Staples
at Concord ami while there she is
the guest of Mrs. Staples.
ALKRAMA Today
Mae McAvoy
"Her Reputation"
SENSATIONALISM?
and a GREAT LOVE
WOVEN INTO ONE OF THE MOST UNUSUAL
STORIES OF THE SCREEN SEASON
IIow delicate is the structure that holds a woman's
reputation!
This is the theme of this Thomas H. Ince Feature?
carrying thrills in a romance of the Old South and Mod
ern Journalism!
ALSO
"SPOOKS" A MERMAID COMEDY
1
MOM'N POP BY TAYLOR
pop. do UFOLize
l NEED a NEW HAT
SHOES AND A C6W
DRESSES ?
Oh pop ? wait rn.i l FORGET IT ! 7^FiZcT^er^Lt^TeiZZsPAiDTip^~
TEU. WOO ABOUT TMe w)MeN Kcgp 1 WONT 06 A8( e Tot iimD "M RANK
WONDtBfUl. GO WIN I ? p F, hoo, 8A1ANCF OfM A CLEAN PLATS WITH A
<iAV* DOWNTOWN . ' I. lH f~ TfltSCOt-e AN T?EN INCOMt TAX IS
P_?| TOOAM - j-l OF Ih N6*T in SESRiON - WHtN I think
Eh'VOV /$>*?' liMMWn? U I-O planned-roOET A Ntu, CAB .T
r V ^N~iss NAUW I j I ALMOST MAkM ME WEEP1 /; ft?\
i .*? 1 Ti-^HLrTTS"
= M ELICK
IF YOU NEED A
A
Refrigerator
and do not se? us we both
lose money.
WE HAVE UNUSUAL VAL
UES TO OFFER IN THE
BEST BOX ON THE MAR
KET.
=MELICK =
FKK.II> AIKF
Provider Ideal refrigeration. A
home is no longer modern
without Frigidaire. Call and
see our demonstrator.
\V. S. WIIITF & CO.
410 E. Matthews St.
Special
Pancake and
Buckwheat Flour
6c per Pkg.
5 i'kgs. for 25c
M. P. GALLOP CO.
Phone* 3 and 57
??????'n*
It's Time to Think of a
ISeiv
Lightweight
Suit
We have one that will
suit you.
D. Walter Harris
The City Tailor and
Clothier
FLOWERS
for Rift* convey your me?*ag?
better than words.
Ryan Florul Shop
PHONE 842
A Remarkable Herb
The herb Hobo has been known of
a long time. It has been much used
for ltd purifying qualities In the
treatment of Leprosy, Eruptions and
Dropsy. Orwln commended It highly
In the treatment of Psoriasis.
During the last few years this
herb has been discovered growing In
Kast Texas and Western Louisiana
and It has been found that Its puri
fying properties were almost solely
due to Its action on the kidneys.
Write for the interesting story of
this discovery. Six bottles of Hobo
Kidney and Bladder Remedy cost
$6.00. A small price to pay for re
lief from terrible pain and agony.
Money refunded If not entirely sat
isfied with results obtained.
Ilobo Medicine Co., Ileftomont, TexM
adv.
GOITRE REMOVED
Virginia l*a<1y VscnI BUInlm IJnl*
n.?nt
Hrr Condition Wm Hovions
Arrington, (OS Quarts
street, Hertford, Va., any.: "I had
goitre 20 years. Had terrible chok
ing apell* and was so nerrous I
could not eren let a collar touch.
Sorbol-Quadruple has entirely re
moved It and : I am glad to answer
letters from Interested persons."
Sold by all drug stores, or write
Sorbol Company, Mechansburg, Ohio.
Locally at Albemarle Pharmacy.
Jan t mar II Jua 6