North Carolina Newspapers

SENATOR OKI WARMLY PRAISED HIS ACHIEVEMENT IN PILOTING CO-ORDINATION MEASURE OF SIGNAL VALUE. DISPATCHES FROM RALEIGH Doings and Happenings That Mark the Progress of North Carolina Peo ple, Gathered Around the State Capital. Raleigh. Special from Washington. On all hands in Washington from people who know the vigorous opposition which the Overman bill received when it was first introduced, there is high praise and warm commendation of Senator Overman of North Garolina for the victorious leadership and the great ability he has shown in the five weeks' debate on this important meas ure. When it was first introduced there was great hue and cry against it, a number of Democrats joining with Re publicans in saying that it gave too much power to the President. Senator Overman in a very able and vigorous speech showed that in time of war it was necessary to vest in the chief ex ecutive large powers, and that one of thetroubles of the Allies across the sea wa3 that there was divided respon sibility. He argued convincingly that America in its prosecution of the war should give all necessary power to the chief executive so that there would be no waste of energy and every facility of the government might operate i harmony. It has been a long, hard fight, and Senator Overman's leadership has re flected great credit upon him, upon his State,, and upon the country. He is recognized as one of the strong lead ers of the senate, and during this ses sion he has had the honor and dis tinction of introducing and securiug the passage in the senate of four other war measures of the highest impor tnace. namely, the espionage bill, two sabotage bills and the woman spy bill. The Need of Scrutiny. The final settlement of the stock fraud case against Joel F. Armistead of the Empire Steel Company, brings squarely to the public attention the necessity for strict offcial scrutiny of the stork sale operations of domestic corporations proposing promotion, ac cording to J. R. Young, state insur ance commissioner. Mr. Young points to the efficacy of the Blue Sky law and argues a demand for a similar l-.iw which will give to' some depart' tnent not necessarily the insurance department the duty of controlling these operations. In the case of the Empire Steel Com pany, before the stock sales in this state were undertaken by Armistead .and his agent, a North Carolina char ter was secured in addition to the Delaware ' charter, apparently for the purpose of getting around the North Caorlina Blue Sky law. With no such law in Virginia, the promoters had al ready sold $20,000 worth of stock on the basis of a non-resident corpora tion. In North Carolina .their de signs were blocked. As the result, two dummy local incorporators were secured, and without formality of ac tual organization the sale of stock was begun. It was this course, according to the Insurance Commissioner, which great ly helped to establish the intent to de fraud when these stock salesmen were confronted by the Insurance commis sioner. They were ready to admit that they were selling stock In a cor poration that really had no official ex istence except that which could be based upon a clerically issued char ter from the secretary of state under which no organization had been form ed, and once they were caught dispo sition of them was not diffcult. Democratc Chiarman Re-elected. Re-electing Thomas D. Warren, of New Bern, chairman for two more years, the Democratic state executive committee apointed a committee of three to confer with the Republican state committee to the end that an agreement may be reached whereby neither party will name delegates to tth constitutional, convention. If over tures to this end are not successful, the committee is clothed with authori ty to provide machinery for naming the delegates. While the committee gave no expression of its opinion, it was the generally expressed convction that a constitutonal conventon at this time would be very unwise and more over, that the convention will be voted down at the poll3 in the coming elec tion. Forecasts Bag Shortage. Heavy demands are being made oh 'he bag industry of Calcutta. India, for jute sandbags to be used for lining trenches. One English order alone 13 for 150 million bags. This situation combined with shortage of vessels may result in a scarcity of grain bags in America, states Director B. W. Kil gore, of the Agricultural Extension Sarvice. To secure the importation, of enough bags for the 1918 season, the Pood Administration made agreements lato in Febrif ry with the bag makers. More Soybeans Tht Year, . From the results of a survey of th county agents of the state, there is every indication to believe , that soy beans will be planted on a greatly in creased acreage this year. In some counties, where the crop has not been grown to any extent in the past two or three years, will this year put in severa lthousands of acres. Instances of this, as reported to Mr .C. B. Williams, Chief Division of Agronomy, are seen in the case of Wake county, wher e2,500 acres are reported by County Agent Ghamblee. One thousand acres in Nash as re ported by County Agent Burroughs. Three thousand acres in Grene, as re ported by County Agent Middleton. Five thousands acres in Edgecombe, as reported by County Agent Moore. Fifteen hundred acres in Cherokee as reported, by County Agent Hampton. Twenty-five hundred acres in Ruther ford, as reported by County Agent I'roffitt. Twelve hundred acres or more in Burke, as reported by County Agent Perkins. Twenty-five hundred acres in Halifax, as reported by Coun ty Agent Stevens. Fifteen hundred to two thousand acres in Union, as re ported by County Agent Brook. One thousand acres in Clay, as reported by County Agent Dead. One thousand acres in Martin, as reported by Coun ty Agent Craven. Eighten thousand acres in Sampson, as reported by County Agent Boyd. McLean Giuen Appointment. Special from Washington, D. C. The President has nominated A. W. Mc Lean of Lumberton for a director or the war finance corporation board. Senator Simmons asked that Mr. Mc Lean be appointe'd. The naming of Mr. McLean is the biggest thing that has gone the way of North Carolina since Mr. Daniels was appointed sec retary of the navy. Mr. McLean will receive $12,000 a year and he gets one of the four-year terms. The entire North Carolina del egation in Congress is proud of the McLean appointment, for it is a recog nition of the financial ability of a Tar Heel. "Naturally I am very much elated over the nomination of Mr. McLean," said Senator Simmons. "It is a very excellent one." From Senator Simmons' office tha following facts about Mr. McLean were given out: He is one of the ablest young men in North Carolina. His success in business affairs has been phenomenal. At the age of 26 he organized the Lumberton National bank and became its president, ft po sition he now holds. The bank is one of the strongest institutions of the kind in the state. Later, Mr. McLean organized a local railroad company to give his town and community com petitive rates to the outside world. He i3 president of the road, which has succeeded beyond all expectation. Large cotton mill concerns were or ganized by Mr. McLean amd he is their financial manager. Manufacturing plants built and set in motion by him have succeeded. A better man for the war finance corporation board could not have been found in the south. Mr. McLean was nominated for one of the four-year terms. Fitting the Horse Collar. "Much trouble results on the aver age farm each year from sore shoul ders on horses caused by the improper fitting of collars, and improper adjust ment of hames," says a recent state ment from J. S. Montgomery of the University of Minnesota. "The collar should fit the shoulder so that in length there is just room for the flat of one's hand between the collar and the neck at bottom. In width the collar should fit snugly against the sides of the neck from a point three inches above the shoulder point, to a point about half-way up to the top of the neck. The upper one-third to one-half of the collar should be wide enough to allow one to pass the thick of the hand between the collar and the side of the neck. If the upper part of the neck is thick a "Quarter Sweaney" or "Half Sweaney" collar should be used, so as not to pinch the neck. A collar too wide at the Up will produce a sore neck on account of side motion of the collar as the horse walks. "Sweat pads should be avoided as they hold the heat and sweat and pro duce a tender shoulder, often causing a galled condition." Don't Rush New Crop. "Do not rush Irish potatoes to mar ket," is the advice to growers from Mr. W. N. Hutt, state horticulturist, who declares that the early crop will likely come. Into the market before the heavy stock of last year's crop has ceen consumed, if the usual practice of "digging the crop prematurely and rushing it to secure an early market," is followed. Waste and extravagance are Ger many's silent Allies . Use More Milk U. S. Food Admin istration. Campaign for One Million. The Baptists of North Carolina have launched their campaign for one mil lion dollars for the denomination's colleges and secondary schools in the State, and the local drive will be start ed with special services in all the Raleigh Baptist churches. Among the speakers who will present the matter at the various church services are Dr. E. M. Poteat, president of Furman uni versity; ,Dr. W. L. Pojeat, president of the Wake Forest college; Dr. C. J. Thompson, Dr. II. T. Vann, Dr. Living ston Johnson. ij ' raVS vv 4 X- - 7- - - - - 1 Recent view in ruined Ypres, objective of the Germans in Flanders, reviewing a body of American Infantry at the front. 3 One of the huge of the bombing squadrons. NEWS REVIEW OF THE PAST WEEK Germans Defeated With Awful Slaughter in an Attack on Ypres Salient. PREPARING FOR NEW SMASH Americans Gallantly Repulse Hun As sault Near Amiens Teutonic "Peace Offensive" Developing Third Liberty Loan Heavily Oversubscribed Plans to Expand Our Army. By EDWARD W. PICKARD. Monday of last week was n bitter day for the Hun the day of his worst defeat since the great spring drive be gan. Under orders from General von. Arnim to take Scherpenberg, Mont Rouge, Mont Noir and all the high ground back of Kemmel, the Ger mans hurled themselves time after time against the stone wall of Brit ish and French defenders, only to fall back In disorder, leaving thousands of their men dead and wounded on the field. The enemy, employed about thirty fresh battalions, In addition to the numerous divisions already In po sition on that front, and his onslaughts were so frequent as to be almost con tinuous throughout; the day. When the morning of Tuesday came the great numbers of gray-uniformed dead in front of the defending posi tions showed the awful, price the Hun had paid. Moreover, lie had nothing to show for this expenditure of life, for the allied lines were virtually in tact at all points, and the British late In the afternoon counter attacked north of Kemmel and regained consid erable ground previously lost. Just to the west of this position, about Locre and at the cross roads between Scherpenberg and Mont Rouge, the French met the fiercest assaults of the day. Changing hands several times, Locre was held by the Germans at nightfall, and they had pushed nhead until the situation was most critical for the defenders, but the French came back with such Irresistible dash that the advance was stopped, and af ter dark they pushed the Germans out of Locre and back from the positions thev had won between the two hills. ta in this, the most pretentious attack on the Ypres salient, the British and French, largely outnumbered, fought with equal gallantry and determina tion. At the same time the brave Belgians, farther north, repulsed an other attack, not yielding a foot of ground. The kaiser had Just visited the German lines and exhorted his troops to push the British back to the channel, "where they belonged." but the stubborn Tommies didn't wish to be pushed, and they were not. The big attack probably had the double purpose of capturing Ypres and di verting large numbers of allied troops from the Amiens salient so the Ger mans could make another drive there, but neither object was attained. The artillery fire from both sides was con tinuous and very heavy, and the Ger mans, despite the excellent work of the airmen, Improved their transport and brought up many of their large guns. The British batteries west of Kemmel devoted much of their efforts during the week to deluging the top of that hill with shells, so that the Huns were unable to obtain any bene fit from Its capture. The intense activity observed 'be hind the German lines Indicated that Von Arnim was preparing to resume the attack on the Ypres salient imme diately. Except for Kemmel hill, his troops are occupying lower ground than that held by the allies, and they cannot continue there long under the smothering fire of the British nnd French artillery. If they cannot gain the IJne of heights they seemingly mw soon retire. Vl Following their disastrous repulse In Flinders, th? enemy made two n': t,n'ks In the Alliens region. The first was directed especially at the Ameri enn troops, now revealed as holding positions In tlu vicinity of Villtrs- Bretonneux, east of Amiens. After an Intense preliminary bombardment lasting two hours, the Germans ad vanced, three battalions strong, and hand-to-hand fighting ensued all along the line. The Americans put up u de fense that won the warm praise of the French . commanders on their flanks, and tfle Huns, after considera ble time, were driven back with heavy less. The losses of the Americans were said to be rather severe. The second attack was made Wed nesday night In the Thennes sector, southeast of Amiens, ntul was as com plete a failure as the other. Pa Already, the expected Teutonic "peace offensive" Is beginning to de velop, as It always does after the kaiser has won some successes and then has been brought to a halt. Charles of Austria is said to have made peace offers to Italy, the real purpose of which is evidently to cre ate discord in Italy and at the same time to quiet the discord among his own subjects. The pope, It is under stood, will put forth peace proposals on Whitsuntide, May 19 making con crete offers of mediation by the holy see. Germany's own offers are ex pected after another great effort has been made to smash the allied armies in Frauce. This peace offensive will be no less offensive to the allies than Its prede cessors. They will not be deceived by offers to restore Belgium and to cede Lorraine. Nothing less than the ut ter defeat of the central powers will satisfy them, unless there is an un believable change In the state of mind of the governments and the peoples. This Is no less true in America than in England and France. The Ameri can casualty lists, though still com paratively short, are scattering all over the country's map little black dots of mourning, each of which be comes the center' of a strengthened de termination to see the war through to complete victory. m The Austrian emperor Is truly hav ing a hard time keeping his subjects to their allegiance. From Serbian sources comes the news that, the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes In the dual mon archy are holding a plebiscite on the plan to join with Serbia and Monte negro in one national independent state, with Peter of Serbia as the king. This movement is led by the prime archbishop of Carnlola. Mean while the Austro-nungarlan military commanders have been greatly exer cised by the fact, Just announced, that large numbers of Bohemian troops are Joining the Italhin army and are now on the Italian front In Italian uniforms. They belong to the Czecho-Slovak army which Is being formed at many points within Austria nungary. Though they have slowed up a bit In Russia proper, the Germans are go ing ahead steadily with their penetra tion of Ukraine, and now have es tablished military rule In Kiev, Its capital, on the ground that the gov crnmeiit has proved too weak to main tain law and order. A number of the members of the Ukraine government have been arrested. Of course, the prevailing disorder there Is mainly Cue to the presence of the German troops and their oppression of the peo ple, but a little discrepancy like that does not bother the kaiser. Recently General von Eichhom, the German commander there, ordered the peas antry to return all property and ef fects taken from the landholders and to begin at once the cultivation of the estates. This order, designed to pro tect the Interests of the landholders, most of whom are Poles and Russians, was vigorously opposed by the rada. which declared it would not permit In terference by German or Austro-IIun-garlan commanders in the Internal af fairs of the country. The minister of agriculture-was instructed to tell the peasants not to obey Von Eichhorn's order. Berlin announced on Thursday that Sevastopol had been occupied by the German forces. For a day or two last week the world was startled by a report that there had been a counter-revolution in Russia, nnd that the former czar's little son had been proclaimed emperor, with his uncle. Grand Duke Michael, as re gent. The story came from Scan dinavia, nnd soon was recognized as 2 General Pershing and his aides bombs used by the British aviators 1 German propaganda, though there was doubt as to Its motive. It was not confirmed from any Russian source. Possibly the Germans meant to use the alleged revolt as an excuse for seizing Tetrograd, a move they al ready have threatened to make unless the Russians agree to their outrageous ly unfair plan for the exchange of prisoners. According to thts plan, which Russia rejects, all German pris oners In good health are to be re turned, tho unfit being kept in Rus sia ; and all unfit Russian prisoners will be returned, the fit being retained in Germany. Another bit of characteristic Ger man Insolence cropped up last week, when Berlin formally protested against the action of the allies in giv ing aid to the Red guard of Finland, because it interfered with the Internal life of Finland, though the Germans themselves are helping the White guard of the country with land and sea forces. This combination has now occupied VIborg after severe fighting. P The Russian bolshevik government Is really preparing to re-enter the war against the central powers, whose ag gressions have become Intolerable. The pan-executive council at Moscow' has adopted Trotzky's plan for uni versal military training for all men between the ages of eighteen and forty and the conscription of all work ers and peasants. The best military experts have been recalled to the serv ice and the government expects to have a large arid effective army with in ten months. War work in America Is progressing with unprecedented speed these days. The third Liberty Loan campaign closed on Saturday with the $3,000. 000,000 of bonds heavily over-subscribed. The most satisfactory fea tures of this loan are the large num bers of individual subscribers and the fact that the country districts took a portion of the loan relatively much larger than they did of the. previous issues. As the campaign neared its end the enthusiasm became really tre mendous. All classes of the popula tion joined In the work of selling the bonds, and most substantial aid was rendered by 50 wounded American sol diers and a group of French "Blue Devils" who came over from France for the purpose. The war department permitted it to be known that it now plans to have 1,000,000 men in France by July 1, nnd that considerably more than 500, 000 are already there. Secretary Ba ker says the army will be expanded to 3,000,000 men and ' then will be made as much larger as Is considered necessary. The movement of troops across the Atlantic is so swift that the training camps are being emptied, and therefore the draft registrants are be ing called In Increasing numbers. Sec retary Daniels is enthusiastic for an army of unlimited size, nnd says If j there are not enough young men to whip Germany the age limit will be changed and the older ones will go. The brigading of the Americans with the British nnd French has greatly expedited the placing of the men on the firing line, for now only 30 days of training In France Is considered necessary. The senate grew impatient all of a sudden last Tuesday nnd three bills were Introduced for expanding the army. In the house Chairman Dent of the military affairs committee also In troduced such a bill, but he would limit the size of the army to 4,000,000 men. As usual, he is not in accord with the spirit of the nation. On Thursday Secretary Baker pre sented the administration's program to the house committee.. It Includes ex penditures on the army aggregating $13,000,000,000 in the next fiscal year; manufacture of artillery on a stu pendous scale; drafting of at' least 1,000,000 additional registrants and as many more as can be equipped and transported to France. The Overman co-ordination bill was passed by the senate Monday by a vote of 63 to 13. and when it gets through the house there will be little In any way connected with the war which the president will not be em powered to do. The measure gives him dictatorial powers to reorganize bureaus and departments of the gov ernment and to transfer governmenl functions at will. AHOTHEH CONCORD SENSATION Grows Out"" of Arrest, Trial and Ac quittal of Gaston B. Means for Murder. Concord, N. C. As a sequel to the famous case growing out of the killing of Mrs. Maud A. King, widow of the late James C. King, Chicago million aire, near here last August 29, an the " subsequent notable trial last Decem ber of Gaston' B. Means,' her financial agent, who was acquitted of the charge of having murdered her, a sen sation was sprung here when it de veloped that a state warrant had been issued by Justice of the Peace C. A. Pitts, for -the arrest of C. B. Ambrose, who was prominently identified with the development of the case against Means last fall. Ambrose Is charged with misrepre senting himself as being In the serv ice of the United States Department of Justice during the months of Au gust, September and October, 1917. It is understood that the warrant was issued at the instance of parties rep resenting Means. In connection with the action against Ambrose it developed that persons close to Means are advancing" the theory that Mrs. King was killed by a German spy, who is alleged to have shadowed Means during several weeks prior to the death of Mrs. "King, and it is asserted that a warrant will very probably be issued early the com ing week for the arrest of a "mya-. terious" TJerman who was in Concord . for several weeks prior to the killing of Mrs. King and visited Misenheimer Spring, the scene of the tragedy? a day or two prior to her death. From the same source comes the statement today that the bullet which killed Mrs. King is now believed on the strength of investigations made since the . Means trial to have been intended for Saston Means, the only person with the woman at the time she was shot. Army Deserter Shot. Asheville. In a pitched battle be tween a United States deputy mar shal, his posse and a band of deserters from the army fought at an early hour in the Barker's Creek section of Jack son county, one of the alleged desert ers, James Messer, was shot by the officers and is now in a hospital at Waynesville expected to live only a few hours. A brother, Hastings Mes ser, is under arrest charged with de sertion and resisting an officer. For the past several months there has been much indignation on the part of the residents of Jackson county in that the Barker's Creek section of the county, which is rather wild and in accessible, was the rendezvous of two bands of deserters from the army, armed with government rifles and am munition, who defied arrest. Much in dignant criticism has been made of the sheriff of the county, . It being charged that he was afraid to make arrests, and as a final resort a large number of equ3ts fam to the office of United States Mnehal Charless A. Webb, of Asheville, for the appoint ment of a special deputy to assist the local officers. A few days ago!harles C. Mason, of Dillsboro, was appolatd deputy mar shal and instructed to gather a posse and go after the- infc, and on Satur day night Mr. Mascn together with C. T. Roan, of BjjSsb. City, and a posse of seven wnto the home of the Messej boys, isirtre Hastings Mes ser was arrested and in a battle be tween James Messer and the officer James was seriously wounded Jailed for Pro-German Talk. Greenville, N. C. No little excite ment was occasioned on the streets here when news became current that J. H. Ketohum, of alleged German de scent and a resident of the city had been placed under arrest by govern ment officials for pro-German utter ances the warrant charged him with violation of the espionage act, section three, which forbids, among other things, unpatriotic remarks. Durham: Economic and Social. Chapel Hill. Durham County: Eco nomic and Social is the "title of a new one hundred-page illustrated bulletin that has just cone from the press. It Is the second study of county economic and social problems to appear in North Carolina, the first being Samp son county: Economic and Social, is sued in late 1917. NORTH CAROLINA BRIEFS. It Is learned that a large per cent of blackbrry vines were destroyed by the extreme cold weather the past winter. In some localities the entire growth is said to be killed. Transylvania county is putting par tisanship out of business for, the time being by the appointment of a com mittee to draft a proposition to be submitted to both parties. Perapa Governor Bickett's proposal is practi cal wherever it is approached in the spirit in which it was made. Monroe people are very much in terested in the proposed cement high way to Wilmington and are willing to lend this movement their support. T. L. Riddle, secretary of the Monroe chamber of commerce, has written a letter to the Charlotte chamber of commerce pledging the aid of the Monroe organization in the movement. Statesville can now boast o fa pop ulation of between 7,500 and 8,000, a considerable bit of territory being taken in as a result of an election last fall. If that part added is as good as that to which it was added, everybody ought to be' jroud. 4