VOL. TWILNTY.THREB ? __ - F^MV^' PITT COUNTY, NORTH CAROUNA, I ^IDAY JANUARY 27, 1988 _ _ NUMBER <0^^
Pictures Convict Labor
As Budget-Balancing Aid
Senator Hill Would Man
Idle Farms With Idle
Labor and Save Taxes
Raleigh, Jan. 27.?Convicts busy
on public farms, toiling on public
roads, digging in quarries and gravel
pits, applying themselves to indus
tries that not only would make the
State's Prison self supporting, but
which would supply food, clothing and
other supplies to State institutions
now spending tax money for them.
That was the business man's pic
ture of efficient prison management
as presented to the joint legislative
appropriations committee yesterday
by Senator John Sprunt Hill of
Durham, who the day before had
stated that to his way of thinking
what this State needed most was an
efficiency expert
Senator Hill interspersed his ideas
with a long series of questions to
Supt George Ross Pou of State's pris
on, about which he had used the term
extravagance Wednesday. The Sena
tor and Prison head greeted each
other affectionately upon meeting
yesterday, however, and the Senator !
said he had no intention to harass '
the prison head personally.
. Mr. -Pou told the committee that he i
had two degrees of fever, but would I.
go through with it. He was on the j
stand for an hour and a half from (
the time Senator Hill announced ,
that all he wanted to do was to re- ,
move the State penitentiary from the ,
red, and that he believed he had ^
distinct ideas about how to do it, ]
until he detailed his ideas at length
and Supti Pou had agreed that "You 1
and I are in hearty accord, but you (
cant build a house without tools." ]
The Durham Senator's idea, in ,
brief, is to put the 2,000 idle ,
State's prisoners to work on property
either idle or not being efficiently
utilized at present, and make the j
combination put the prison on 'a
paying basis and produce surplus
enough to relieve tax-payers of hav
ing to buy food, feed and clothing '
for other public institutions.
Supt. Pou said he thought the
plan fine, but imposed practical ob
jections as fast as the Senator pour
ed out his suggestions. It all left (
the committee in something of- a
whirl.
Woman Who Weighed
608 Pounds Buried
Franklin, Ind., Jan. 25.?Private '
funeral services were held today for i
Mrs. Graham Smith, 40, who at the ?
time of her death weighed 608 ^
pounds. ]
A special casket was built for her <
body and a portion of a wall of 1
her home was removed so the casket
?? * * a x! "1.t
could oe Drougnt into me uuusc.
The casket was taken to the ceme
tery on a / truck and lowered into
the grave by a derrick.
SCATTER GRAIN STRAW
OVER TOBACCO BED
- A thin coating of grain straw scat
tered over the tobacco plant bed at
the rate of about 25 or 30 pounds to
each 100 square yards of bed will
hold moisture, keep the plants warm
er, and prevent frost injury.
"This practice ox using a light cov
ering of straw over the tobacco plant
beds is an old, well established cus- '
torn among good tobacco growers in
the northern part of Guilford Coun
ty and the folks there have found it
much superior to the other method \
of preparing beds with poles or ?
plank and coverings,'- says E. Y. j
Floyd, extension tobacco specialists :
at State College, who recommends the <
plan to other growers of the state.
In using this plan, the beds -should ?
be fertilized, prepared and sowed as :
they are now. Just as soon as the
beds have been packed, add the light
covering of straw, broadcasted thin- -
ly and uniformly. Never leave, too
muds straw at one place. Then the
ramus is placed over the straw and
pegged to the ground with small pegs
placid at an angle about two feet
flofd says the flea bugs are not so
bad there this method is used. With
this thin covering of straw in place,
no poles or planks son needed about
the bed. Then, too Floyd says, the
enottb to cover the srround, it misfit
w w" -" 0 / O
. sdvsntage
Gasoline dealer
Shot By Bandit
W. Caswell Sugg Pulled
His gun But Not Quick
Enough
Tarboro, Jan. 26.?W. Caswell
Sugg, who operates a filling station
about seven miles from this city at
Sugg's Cross Roards, was shot about
1 o'clock this morning when three
bandits called at the station osten
sibly to get gasoline. When Mr.
Sugg answered the call and opened
his place, one of the bandits ordered
him to "stick 'em up." Mr. Sugg
replied: "It must be a joke," where
upon a bandit drew his pistol and
Mr. Sugg reached for his weapon.
The bandit shot Mr. Sugg twice, one
ball striking him in. the right rib,
the other striking him in his left
leg. The bandits then fled.
Sugg's cries for help brought
George Cumming, a neighbor, to the
scene, and Sheriff W. E. Bardin was
notified. He went to the place and,
investigated the affair. He was in
formed that the car, probably a.
Buick, had headed toward Tarboro.
Taking up the trail, Sheriff Bardin
followed the car to Joe Harris' fill- j
ing station, where it turned toward
Old Sparta, crossed Tar river there, j
and turned toward James Lawrence's
farm and came toward Conetoe. * At
this point Sheriff Bardin lost the
trail as they had reached a paved
road. ' -
Mr. Sugg, who is commander of
the local camp of Spanish War vet
erans, was unable to identify the
uandits. He is in a hospital here
ivhere an X-ray was made today of
the wound in his side.
New Yorkers are said to be eat
ing more candy than ever before.
fllot Cooke
l/ll/l UVVOJ
Retraction
Japanese Party Leader
Refuses T o Retract
Statement O n Man
churian Policy
Tokyo* Jan. 25.?A report that the
plount questioning of the govern
ment's Manchurian policy in the Diet
Monday caused a sensation in the
League of Nations in Geneva called
forth the demand in the Diet today
;hat Kitsjhi Ashida, the intercolutor,
retract what he said on that occasion.
Ashida, Seiyuka party spokesman
>n foreign policies, failed to retract
die statement, but expressed regret
Jiat owing to failure to make him
self, clear he had been misunder
stood. 7
Ashida said Monday that a gloomy
situation ruled in American-Japan
ese relations and that unless they
vere improved they surely would
produce renewed armament compe
:ion and possible world war. -
He blamed it on the whole and
lot on the substance of the govern
Trent's Manchurian policy.
introduce Measures
For Dare Observance
Washington, Jan. 25.?Bills were
today introduced in the Senate by
Senator Robinson of Arkansas and
in the House by Representative War
ren to carry into effect the report
of the United States Roanoke Col
ony Commission for a proper ob
servance in 1934 of the one hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of the birth
of English-speaking civilization in
America. . The measure was referred
to the library committee in each
house and early action will be
sought. It calls for an appropria
tion of $50,000.
1 Y. W. G A, Giris in Homeland Cmouik* |
?* -* i
~' 1 11 ? 1 - 1 ? 1 " 1
Young Women's Christian Association homes in cities throughout
the country are featuring "Nativeland Evenings" wherein gfada front
every land don native costumes and tell of home lands. Here are Elaine
Swanson, Finland, and Marioara Pabel of Rumania in native costumes at
a Detroit, (Mich.) Y. W. C. A, evening. ?
? ' '
No Cut For Education
I Raleigh, Jan. 26.?"North Carolina
has come a long way since 1876; but
she can go back in a quarter of the
time it took her to climb up; and she
begins the slide downward the mo
ment she begins to think good roads
more important than good schools,
and to pay more for gasoline than sEe
pays for education," declared Gerald
W. Johnson, author and member of
the editorial staff of the Baltimore
Sun, who is a native Tar Heel.
Interested in the fight being wag
ed in this State to prevent further re
ductions in appropriations for educa
tion, Mr. Johnson issued the following
statement:
"If there is one thing certain in
this uncertain life it is that you pay
for what you get in the world. You
| may get what you pay for, but as
suredly you .will get no more.
"If North Carolina pays school
teachers only the wages of a junior
guard m a convict camp, sooner or
later she will have her schools filled
with teachers with the mentality of a
junior guard in a convict camp. She
may be able to get by this year with
her present personnel; but next year
they will bgain to drop out, and they
will be replaced with worse teachers;
and each succeeding year will see
more bad teachers in the schools; In
! time the quality of the teachers mil
come down to the level of the pay;
and if that level is the level of a con
vict guard's wages, that is the sort
of teacher the State will have. This
refers to the average, naturally; but
what the State must consider is the
average teacher, not the brilliant ex
ception here and there.
"If any North Carolinian is in donbt
as to what poor teachers and poor
schools will mean to the State, let
him look about him at other Southern
States that started their educational
advance later than 1901, when North
Carolina's began. Poor teachers and
poor schools mean, eventually, Hef
lins and Vardamans in the Senate;
Bilbos and Bleases in the Governor's
chair, rancorous and demagogic poli
tics, hateful race relations punctuated
by frequent lyncbings, superstition
in religion and stupidity in business.
North Carolina has come a long way
since 1876; but she can go back in a
quarter of the time it took her to
climb up; and she begins the slide
tVio mnnwnt alio ViPcrinB Fn
v*vr ?f it v? ?w Mr -Q
think good roads more important than
good schools, and to pay more for
gasoline than she pays for education.
"There is no doubt that some
States, especially in the *lorth and
West, are facing what amounts to
an educational racket, which means
that they are spending on the schools
a great deal of money that doesnt go
into eduction at all. But to assert
that North Carolina faces this condi
tion is nonsense. The State at its
highest point spent only a fraction
of what Northern and Wiestern States
are spending per capita for schools.
The State has been getting more for
each dollar it spent than any other
State in the Union, if comparative
statistics mean anything. To reduce
its small expenditures still further is
not economy, but criminal waste.
Several Sent to Prison
In Pitt Criminal Court
u
Others Charged With
Attempted Robberies
Get Road Sentences
Greenville, Jan. 25.?Several de
fendants charged with breaking and
entering and attempted robbery were
sentenced to state's prison and the
county roads in ^yesterday's session
of criminal court which continued its
sitting until late last night.
Several of the most important cas
es on the docket were cleared during
the day, and court today turned its
attention to the disposition of several
others involving charges of murder,
WIXJL ? - ? 7 ^.? '??
Robert Taylor, colored, charged
with breaking into a freight car on
the Coast line tracks. here,^ was
sentenced to eight months en the
roads, "l'--v ;;.r|"
Convicted of entering the Hooker
Wholesale Company here several
months ago, John Quinn was-]given
s imS
JKariie Macon, convicted of jbreak
to ufff'
*a fl; UjftMOtt 1
1 . ???? * ? ? , k _ j
criminal assault and embezzlement
Jack Davenport, charged with en
| tering the National and Sinclair* oil
| plants and the combination filling
station, and store of L. A. Smith
near the cotton mill, Monday night
of last week, was sentenced from
three to five years in State's prison.
He attempted to rob the safes of
the two oil companies and obtained
about $7 in cash and a considerable
supply of cigarettes from the Smith
station. He was arrested the latter
part of the week by city and coun
ty officers and bound over to crimi
nal court following his submission
to the charge. The grand jury re
turned a true bill the first of the
colored, held in connection with
the same case, were given similar
sentences, while Carey Atkinson,
Tom Moore, Louis Batts and Jim
Holliday, colored, were given a year
each on the roads for complicity.
A considerable amount of clothing
was taken from both stores but
most of it was recovered by police
in the arrest of the negroes.
Oliver Mills and Charile Dawson,
colored, convicted of larceny, were
given three months each on the
roads.
George Woolard was given 12
months in prison on a charge of
forgery.
Sees Revolt
Of Farmers
Farm Leaders Say If
Relief Is Not Given
Growers, Revolution
Will Result
Washington, D. C., Jan. 25.?Speak
ing in vigorous support of the Do
mestic Allotment Farm Relief Bill,
A. 0. O'Neal, president of the
American Farm Bureau Federation,
told thr Singe committee today th?E
unless something is 4one for the far
mer ^ will have revolution in less
than
!& O'Neal was the first witness as
the Agricultural Committee began
be^mgs-'^h^pM. boosting bill
passed by the House. As he spoke
of revolution, /Thomas, of
Oklahoma, leading exponent of the
Currency Inflation Bill, asked how
^Sng^drfS14^ w'nSS
Charges Against
Durham Accused Of
'Utter Neglect'; Will
Reply to Legislature
mmmmmmmmrnmm
Raleigh, Jan. 26.?Severe criticism
of the conduct of the office of the
State Treasurer, as contained in the
budget report, which was distributed
yesterday in its complete form, caus
ed a buzz around the Capitol and will
be brought before the General As
sembly in a reply now being drafted
by State Auditor Baxter Durham,
who in addition to a charge of incom- '
petence leveled at both departments,
was accused of "utter neglect"
The letter of transmittal for the
audit of the two offices as written
by Henry Burke, of the Budget
Bureau, contains the following:
"The records of both offises are
fragmentary, confused and poorly
kept Proper reconcilements of ac
counts between the offices are not *
made. The bookkeeping is done By '
untrained personnel, is without
proper development, and is entirely 1
inadequate to reflect comprehensively 1
the financial transactions of the gov- J
ernment '
"The audit of revenue and special 1
accounts by the State Auditor does '
'not accomplish its purpose and in 1
some cases is marked by utter neg
lect. The auditing function is for
mal, and poor form at that, and 1
perfunctory; the staff is poorly or- '
ganized and the work is poorly 1
planned and executed," 1
The uadit forms one of the four i
nf Hi# hndiMt. wklpli In its *
entirety was transmitted t<^ the Gen- 1
eral Assembly by former Governor
0. Max Gardner.
"The people of the State will have
no difficulty in understanding what
I shall have to say, which will be
directed to the General Assembly
over my signature," yesterday de
clared State Auditor Baxter Dur
ham. Mr. Durham and Mr. Burke
have been almost continuously at
odds for eight years, and Mr. Dur
ham's . reply is expected to give the
other side of the picture.
Farmville Boy Making
Good At West Point
West Point, N. Y., Jan. 25.?Cadet
Benjamin 0. Turnage, Jr., son of Mif.
Benjamin 0. Turnage, of Farmville,
N. C., has successfully completed
the first six months' work at the U.
S. Military Academy here. In the
general written reviews and mid-term
examinations just completed "49 of
Turnage's classmates were discharg
ed for failure to maintain the high
academic standards required. Au
thorities at West Point consider the
first six months' work to be the most
difficult.
Classes at West Point contain from
nine to fourteen cadets which insures ^
that each man will recite in every
subject daily. Another policy in ef
fect here which is widely advocated
by educational authorities is the
grouping: of cadets by sections which *
is done by placing the best students '
in the first section and the poorest in c
the last. This permits brilliant stu- Q
dents to progress rapidly and not Tie *
held up by the slower cadets.
In addition to his academic work *
Turnage has received considerable f
military instruction. His physical de- 1
velopment has also been provided for 0
by daily classes in the gymnasium
where he is being taught to box, *?
wrestle, fence and swim.
: y f
Certified Farm Seeds ?
Give Better Yields*
i 1
Whether or not it payB to use im- a
proved seeds of farm crops can be ti
seen from the results of a recent sur- f
vey reported by Dr. G. K. Middleton,
seed-specialist at State College, who fc
says the differences in favor of good s
QAAiia oro oCnn^nlltT ofwSlrinsr if fKo a
"WVIU U?V DVJLllVlllg U Wl? tj
crops concerned are affected regular- <j
ly by losse from 'disease. s
"We have found that increased c
acre yields due to the use of certi- c
fied seed will average about 20.6 per i
cent for corn, 23.5 per cent for wheat, -
23.3 per cent for oats, 30 per dent
for barley and as high as 47 per cent
for Irish potatoes," says Dr. Middle
ton. "The results secured in recent
years by the Experiment Station bear
out these figures. remarkably well
from the purely scientific viewpoint.
For instance, the new strain of Porto
Rico sweet potato development by
Robert Schmidt has given an increase
of 61 bushels of No. 1; stock over
seed potatoes supplied by three dif
ferent growers* Last year more than
1680 growers tried out this new
strain and they secured under field
conditions an increased yield of 16$
per eent over the potatoes they had
been nsin** :
' ~*m'* _ ' _ ?% _ gg '? ^
M{6W ifffi nifinmiM MI I?>4 ?^W f
* " *
IHoere BUI fete
Adverse Reporl
Committee Frowns On
Proposed Tax On Ton
Mileage of Trucks and
Busses
Raleigh, Jan. 26.?The General As
sembly's joint committee on roads
yesterday voted an unfavorable re
port for the Moore bill, which wouTd
have levied a tax on one-half mill per
gross ton mile on all motov vehicles
operated for hire in North Carolina.
The measure was vigorously op
posed by representatives of farmers,
newspapers, tobacco industries, tex
HIa mi 11 a hno mmnonipc tranirfflr
companies, oil companies and other
businesses.
Senate* Kirkpatrick of Mecklen
burg moved that the unfavorable
report be given, A substitute motion
by Senator Burgin of Davidson seek
ing to defer a vote was defeated. The
unfayorable report was by practic
3'ly unanimous vote. This usually
means the death of a bill.
Senator Allen Gwyn, of Rocking
ham, chairman of the Senate Roads
Committee, expressed the opinion to
newspapermen that another bill sim
ilar to the Moore measure would be
presented to the assembly so that it
:ould be considered by the finance
rommittee because of its revenue
raising possibilities.
Two new opponents of the propos
ed tax were heard today, adding their
irguments to those of about a dozen
leard yesteixlay. The committee then
iwaited an appearance of Senator
Larry Moore of Craven, the author,
)ut he did not appear. Moore had
isked to be heard but was detained
)y a meeting of the reorganization
rommittee, of which he is chairman.
Paul Sheahan, of Winston-Salem a
>ua operator, told the committee the
)roposed tax would ruin the bus bu'si
leas in the state. He said the com
>aniea paid $211,000 in taxes in 1932
squivalent to 17 per cent of their
rross revenue, and that they could
ifford no more. . ?
Willis Hackney, of Wilson, a to
>acconist, asserted the proposed tax
vould make it impossible for small
ruckers who now make a living by
lauling tobacco to operate. He said
he tax would seriously affect the en
ire tobacco industry of the state,
vhich does much hauling by truck.
Hackney also told the committee
hat an agreement had been reached
thereby Wilson's export tobacco will
?e shipped through the port of Witm
ngton hereafter, instead of through
Norfolk, Va
fegg-men Frightened
From Wilson Office
Wilson, aJn. 25.?Four or five sup
>osed yeggmen were frightened away
rom the office of the Staiidard Gro
ery Company, wholesale concern
iperated by John W. House, on
Jarnes Street, last midnight by a
>ede8trian who discovered them in
he act of tampering with the safe
ind yelled for police. The men leaped
nto a waiting automobile and drove
iff at a high rate of speed.
The men gained entrance to the
tuilding by breaking two locks off
he front door. Norhing was missing
rom the' office or the warehouse
ind indications were the men intend
d only to crack the safe and get
ts contents.
.ere from seed which had not been
:ept pure. This is an increase of 16
>er cent.
When these tests with cotton have
teen carried to the field by the aver
ige grower, the results have been
ibout the same. Demonstrations con
lucted in Pitt and Anson counties
ihowed average yields of 593 pounds
i lint an acre for improved seads as
ompared with 516 pounds fov ordi
lary seeds.
? Probe Stock Market e
. -
Roosevelt to Link Debts
With Revision of Tarift
? ' ? '
?
Friends Convinced He
Plans Decisive Action
In Regard to Tariffs
Warm Springs, Ga., Jan. 25.?
President-elect Roosevelt Went steadi
ly ahead tonight with work on a gen
eral economic program, with friends
convinced that it contemplates de
cisive action for tariff revision as
soon as the war . debt negotiations
are cleared away.
It was the opinon among some of
his friends here that ieadjnstraent of
the tariff, which he legarde as one
of the necessary steps toward world
wide economic recovery, will be a ma
jor topic of discussion with delegates
from the nations that seek reopen
ing of the war debt question.
It was regarded as highly signif
icant that Washington di snatches re
ported the foreign groups would
come here immediately after March
4, not only to take up debts, but
"other economic matters," as well
The tariff, it is believed, will be the
first on the agenda in the latter
category.
In this connection, it was persist
ently rumored that the negotiations
might develop into a world economic
conference such as had been ar- .
ranged for London later in the year.
Roosevelt maintained a complete
silence on the debt and other mat
ters in spite of a two-day conference
with Bernard M. Baruch, New Yolrk
banker and adviser. Baruch was
summoned here from Washington to
go over the complete economic pro
gram, which also includes proposed
railroad relief measures.
Rumors of drastic proposals on
the part of debtor nations looking to
cancellation and sharp revision were
regarded by some of his friends
simply as "trial balloons" to de
termine in this country and in the
hope that they might tend to smooth
the way toward obtaining the best
possible terms in the bargaining.
B.&L. Societies
uraurcu UXUII
Thirty Approved) For
Membership in Home
Loan Bank V
Winston-Salem, Jan. 25.?Fourth
District Home Loan Bank here an- ..
nounced today that 30 Building and
Loan Associations in five States and
the District of Columbia have been
approved for membership in the bank.
The bank said the list represents a
small percentage of the number of
apifications being considered and
that the credit extended totals sev
eral millions of dollars.
A large number of applications al
i ready have been passed on and pa
pers now are in the hands of the
Home Loan Bank board at Washing
; ton for approval after which the ap
provals will be filed in the local of
fice.
The bank, which said additional
millions would be added to the total
or credit extended when other appC- ?
cations are approved, announced that
a member who has been extended
credit through the bank here can get
immediate action on local applica
tion, providing forms are properly
filled out and if the collateral is ac
ceptable.
Raleigh Man Draws
State Prison Term
l?
Greenville, aJn. 25.?Convicted of
the- complicity in the attempted rob
bery of banks at Fountain and
Winterville, Joe Berry, of Raleigh,
was sentenced to from seven to ten
years in State's prison by Judge
Henry A. Grady in criminal term of
court here today.
Prayer for judgment was con
tinued in the case against T. C.
Poole, also of Raleigh, held in con
nection with the Winterville rob
bery until he could be tried for
charges in three other counties. Both
Berry and Poole previously had sub
mitted to the charge of attempting
to enter the Bank of Winterville.
Bogus 50-Cent Piece
Placed In Circulation
Concord, N. C., Jan. 25.?Spuri
ous 50-cent pieces, crude imitations
of the official United States coin,
have been distributed in this section
recently, Chief of Police B. P. Widen
house said.
Three of the counterfeit pieces,
identical except for the date, were
accepted by a filling station and
turned over to poIice^M; /c
Thaycoins are much lighter than'*- '
the bona fide issue and are believed
to be^made of lead with an alumi