North Carolina Newspapers

( 4 hum 1 -r jr. i II UiL GAZES! to A i:. a; PUBLISHED TWICE A WEEK TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS. SINGLE COPY 8 CENTS. Devoted to the ProCectloa of Home and the Uteres t of the Oouaty. $1.50 A YEAR IN ADVANCE VOL. Hill. GASTONIA, If. C. TUESDAY, JUNE 27, IM. NO. 51. LIGHTNING DESTROYS POWER PLANT. A FOUR PER CENT. GRADE. ' CANNING AND TRUCKING. Crops Looking Well Fanning on the Increase' Live News Note - From Worth. , - . - Corresnondence -of The Gazette, WORTH. June 26. -The Harden . , Mill boys won another same Satur- dajf when they played the Stanley , Creek team on the Harden grounds. The score stood 8 to 3 In favor of . 1 Harden. This Is the fourth game they have won this season and have not lost any as there have been only four games played. - While there has not been a hired player on the Har- den team this year ws think the ' bava are doinac orettt well. ; ' Mr. High Beal, of Llncolnton, was down to see old homefolks Saturday ' UaitIi vhn la with . I M. Scott ft Co., of Charlotte, is tak- . Inn his vacation here with his par j ents, Mr. and Mrs. S. 8. Hovis. Mr. . And Mrs. Junius Coatner are going ta bouse keeping near his old home . hla woalr Mra O T. CarnAnter has been suffering from an attack of ap- , - oendicltls the Dast week. She is better now. Rev. Luther Carpenter filled the aoDointmeat of Rev. -Mr. Senter at ; Bt. Paul's Sunday. Revv -M r. Eenter conducted the funeral' services of a little child of Mr. Sidney Carpenter in the Beaverdam settlement. Crops in this vicinity are looking -, very well considering the dry weatn er. There has not beeaenoughyrain yet we think but we bavexeen bless- ed with a few very good raibe, The little boy of Rev. Mr.Senter, .who was struck by lightning a few weeks agbL Is improving and getting along alright. Mrs. John A. rriaay - is unwell at present. Mr. Quince ' Rhyne came near having a serious v accident last Saturday night when be was returning from an ice cream . supper. His bone walked off the road into a deep gully pulling the buggy in with It. Quince managed to fall out and landed about twenty feet from the buggy. The horse broke loose from the buggy and took r the shafts with it. . Farming is -growing more Inter esting in this section than ever be . . fore. Our farmers are taking ' - great deal of Interest In their work y and we have some of the finest crops that have ever been raised. Mr. O. D. Carpenter raised about SO tons of .hay last year and this year he will have something over that amount. The hay was sold to the -merchants . of Gaston county. While the -bay 'was not considered as good as timo thy, this year be has been trying some especially mixed goods and the crop is fine and yielding good re- v turns. It is surprising to know the . amount of corn and feedstuff, that has been shipped In this community - for tbe past lew years but' this year most all the far mess have ' grown enough of the feeds for. their own use and will have some to sell. While the amount of feeds for their" table and stock are being supplied they are. raisirg nrrc rttcr srl etter cotton.' Yve are glad to see tiiU as It will be a great advantage to the -community for It keeps all the money , 'at home and brings" more In. If the farmers keep up the movement of interest that they aVe working" now It will be a great thing, for the com munity. The land is being better prepared and deeper and more thor ough plowing .is being done within the past year than ever before. We have been of the opinion that there v Is no better community for success In '. the country anywhere than right here . and now we believe the people are beginning to believe, this and are go ing down after it and they are get ting results. We notice dulte : a good deal of writing recently about the canning ... business. v We. have two men In our ' community whp have for the past , two ! or three years , been making a . right nice sum on the side from their farm canning tomatoeav Messrs W. N. Black and son. V. L. Black, at this , place, canned last year something . over 3,000 cans tomatoes and about 000. cans peaches and beans. They , sold most of their' output to the Harden, ? Manufacturing Company, who gave them from 90 cents to 91 per dozen for the tomatoes. Now ' this aide issue was, like picking up ' money for their labor as compared with some crops, but It was not all -: profit by a good deal.- "They figure . the goods costs them as near as they can get at it, about 5 or 6 cents - a can to get them on the market con sidering that the cans cost about 2 cents, tbe tomatoes and work of can- ning about S or 4 cents, making a t"ti pf sbont 60 or 70 cents a dozens : These gentlemen did all . the work themselves wita therhelp of their families. -. ;v",-'-: :.j -v ' 1 This la not 'all - these gentlemen are doing In the way of trucking. They, last year,-' raised something over 1,000 bushels of sweet pota toes and received from them a price of about 60. and 60 cents a bushel, . having sold th&m to the Harden " Manufacturing Company, and to the High f hoala Company. . Now, while "they do not consider this much, we think .this U a pretty good showing for trucking business for two men in this community. L - " l ' Messrs. Black had no trouble to ret rid of, their goods as the mer- I chants mentioned above ' , handled rltartvt AiiTnsif a n A manM sua K wA more should they have made more. Mr. Black tells us tbe work was done while nothing on the farm could have been done as only; spare lime was used as the other work" was through. We consider this a worthy example because the work was good work. Many people reeelved ' , the goods and - were pleased because these .people believe In putting the quality In the cans which repeated the sale when once used. Th en tlemen are going to try the business again this year but not in so iaie a scale as the plants were a failure to a certain, extent as tbe dry weath er cut them off.. CLOVER CULLINGS. J ' " -v:-,s . Correspondence nf The Gette. CLOVER, S. C, June J8. At a recent meeting, of the boar'd of trustees of Clover High School Prof. J. Harvey Epann was re-elected as principal for the next term and we understand he has accepted, much to the gratification of the. patrons of the school. ' .. . : Miss Edna Clinton Is visiting her nhcle, Mr. M. C.'FoVbes, at Granite Fails, n. c. -4. t,j. : . Agreeable to a ' recommendation of the Home Mission Board of Bethel Presbytery the congregation of Clo ver Presbyterian church met on last Sabbath and agreed to a grouping with Bowling Green clrurch at the same time amended the call of Clo ver church to read from full to one1 half time of Rev. H. J, Mills in order to place Mr. Mills in a position to ac cept a call from tbe Bowling Green church; for one-half, his time, this ac tion was taken solely to comply with the. recommendation of the Home Mission Board and not as evidence of a backward step of Clover church. Pev. and' Mrs. E. K. -'Hardin, of Rock 'Hill, arrived in . Clover. Wed nesday afternoon to visit. Mr. Har din's sister, Mrs. M. L. Smith, . and to attend the Caldwell-Wright wed ding. ! '. ; . We are . sorry to report that we are going to lose one of our most substantial and beloved citizens, Dr. R. M. Stevenson, -he having .accepted a call to Due West, and expects to move to that place the last of Au gust. Clover regrets to lose Dr. Stevenson and his ; most estimable family, they having endeared them selves to the people of this section during his long and faithful pastor ate of the Associate Reformed Pres byterian church here. Clover's loss is Due West'a f?aln. Dr. and Mrs. E. W. Pressly, their two daughters,-Jean and 'Elsie, and Francis Smith left Tnursdar morn insr fon" two week's7 stay at Blowing Rock, N. C.;' ' v"-. :-v McAdenville Matters. Correwoti-'erce of The Gazette. Verona V.rlarrelscn," CherrvvflJe, spent lest week at the home of Rev. J. F. Harrelson.--Mr. C. D. Th1g pen and family moved from here to Greensboro last Friday. Mr. Pat terson, of Anderson, S. .C, succeeds' Mr. Th-lgpen as overseer of the knap- per room, Mr. J, c walker spent a part of last : week in Salisbury visit ing his sister, Mrs.-H. K. Roberts. Mrs. J. F. Harrelson and Miss Ve- rona Farrelsn spent Wednesday In Gaston la. The family of Mr. iM. B. Albea have moved back here jfrom Cherlotte.-'Mr. Frank Phillips has opened . a meat market ' just across the road from Mr, Smith Carr'scold drink stand. Mr. Boyden : Earney spent Faturday in - Charlotte. Mre. G. L. Webb visited at the home of Mr. Robert Shields in Lowell Sun day. Mr. W. A. Bentley who has been playing baseball with Greens boro Jn the Cardllna Association hae gone Into higher company. - He - is now In the" South Atlanfic ' League paying with Charleston. Mrs. iT. E. Shuford, of Dallas, has purchased the house and lof known as the John O. Rankin -place and we understand will move here at an early date. At fh Tirm-iA nf Mr , : nd iVm Tna&nk rHawkins, Sunday the S5th, Mr. Tom Hawkins and Miss .Carrie Caldwell were united in marriage, Rev. J. F. Har relson officiating, rt . , - Special Services This Week. . 1 Rev. WA. Cleveland, pastor of Steele Creek Presbyterian ; church, Mecklenburg: cousty, will assist Rev. R. C. Anderson In a series of special services at the - First Presbyterian church this week, continuing through next Sunday. He will preach every night at 8 o'clock and will hold a short service each morning at-9:20. The first service was lield last nlght.- There will be a meeting of the ses sion of the church after each service ta give opportunity to those who' wish to unite with the church either on profession of faith pr by letter to do so. - Rev, Mr. Cleveland is an ex cellent : preachers The ' public is cordially invited to attend all, of iaese services. , Gallant, traveling for -Mr. SVade Gallant. the - Westinghouse Company, , spent Sunday with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Gallant. EFFECTS OF DROUGHT. 4- y Cotton Oop Will be Only About Two ' ., Tliird;-1 jot an Average- Gazette 'Man WfeiuT One 'of Best Farms In ." This Section and Sees Conditions ' -as They-Are fiome Comparisons Witfc Forme Vears. ' - y v -V While there is some "alight differ ence of opinion as .to the exact' per centage Of the cotton crop which wilt be harvested this season-In Gaston county, the most sanguine andoptl mistlc farmers and tbe best posted farmers? do not hope for. more than J S per cent of an average crop even provided -the season from now , on should W ideal. At this time the prospects for the crop generally over the cpunty are, to quote one of the best and most successful cotton far mers in the county, the worst In 18 or 20 years. In that portion Of the county south and southeast of Gas tonla numbers of farmers are prepar ing to plow up their cotton fields and replant them In corn, provided there is sufficient rain soon to guarantee that 'the cprn will come up. . One good-farmer south of town with 60 acres in cotton will replant the en tire acreage in corn. He has prac tically no stand at all. In the north ern half of tbe county, which how ever does not raise nearly so much cotton . as the southern half, the prospects are better as there has been-, more rain. As -is well-known the northern half of Gaston Is de voted more especially to raising corn, wheat, etc., the lands being much better Adapted to those crops man to cotton. , - -In company with JMr". J. Frank' Mc Arver, superintendent of the Craig -ft Wilson farms, The Gazette man had the pleasure this morning of driving over the "old farm" In the southeastern section of town. Mr. McArver has been with this firm for the. past eighteen years in the same capacity and has been unusually suc cessful In building up, their farm lands' and increasing the productivi ty thereof. In ract the Craig ft Wil son farms are pointed out as models and it is looked upon as .a settled fact that when crops are poor on their farms they are poor everywhere else in the county where the same season has prevailed. With an ideal season from now on till harvest time, Mr. tMcArver says they cannot make over half a crop. With 69 acres planted in cotton this year he does not hope to make over - 50 bales. Last year, on this same farm, he made 72- bales on 67 acres. Tbe best crop of cotton he has raised on this farm was one of 97 toales on 60 acres. ' Last year this farm produc ed $1(0 worth to the acre, including corn and an other crops. Seventy-five-bushels of corn to the acre Is frequently raised on the farm. ' In the entire 150 acres the best section of cotton is one of six acres which was planted considerably earl ier :a the season than any of the rent, before the drought set In. On .h.a section the stand is good and the yield will be very nearly normal. One little half-acre patch which has the. reputation of yielding a bale ev ery year will . this year -produce' less than a third of a hale. The effect of the dry weather is seen most forcibly on those few patches of ground where the soil is red. Under good weather conditions this soil Is very pro ductive; in fact it is richer than much of the sand soil. ' But this year there is hardly a stalk of cotton on any of the - red land.- It almply didn't come up and there is no pros pect of it doing so now. If future weather conditions are good Mr. Mc Arver interas to repjant these few sections in corn. He has already re planted some places where the stand of cotton Is exceedingly thin in peas. . There is no. better, kept or better worked farm In Gaston county than this one. Weeds are an unknown quan tity and the entire. farm;. looks .as spick and span as It it were tight out of a band box This year, however. It looks distressingly void of vegeta tion as compared with the - average year. vv ;";-'.-,- ".r 5 Mr.-McArver gave' it as his opin ion that the county's cotton crop this -year would . not, exceed two thirds of an average crop and . this opinion is shared toy many of the best and, most conservative farmers. Some place the estimate as high as three-fourths of a crop. Gaston county produces something like 14, 000 bales of the staple annually but if she produces this year 8.000 or ,000 bales she will do welL No rain, barring v a few light showers within the past week or two. has fal len since the first of May. Mr. Mc Arver said it had been the driest sea son he had: experienced during the eighteen years he had been farming here. ,v., , -k- .'; v - Augustus Bradley. :1 a 12-year-old boy of Burlington, was rnn down by an automobile. Friday and severely injured. The boy's leg was laid bare six inches above the knee, the skin being scraped to the bone., Charles Sharpe, a prominent insurance man, was driving the car. No blame at taches to him. -r' f'--v' ' ". ' ' Subscribe to The Gazette. Spencer Mountain lightning Strikes and Sets . Fire to . . Power Plant of the Spencer Moan tain Cotton Mills on South Fork ot ' CatawtM River and Leaves it in Ruins -Loss Roughly Estimated at 23,0OO KrpcrU Now Engaged la Going Over Damaged Property .No Insurance Is Plant That For. ) nlshes Gastonla With Lights and Power Will Keboild at Once. J; ' Lightning followed by fire com pletely destroyed the power plant of the Spencer Mountain Cotton Mills, located on the South Fork of the Catawba river, about seven miles northeast of Gastonia, Friday after noon at 3 o'clock. The plant, which stood on the opposite side of the river from the company's cotton mill and half a mile or more down (he river, is a mass-of ruins and it will require a number of weeks to rebuild and re-equip it ready for Starting up sgaln. It is impossible to state exactly what the loss will be, though the officials of tbe company roughly estimate it at $25,000, this sum representing the loss provided no part of the machinery is left in a usable condition. As to this they do not yet know. Experts are busy to day going 'Over and examining the transformers,, dynamos, etc., with a view to ascertaining their exact con dition. Just how. the bolt of lightning struck the building is not known. Mr. John Weaver, the engineer In charge waa standing on a balcony on the outside of the building at the time. He does not know whether the lightning came In on tbe wires or whether it struck one of the near by trees and jumped thence to the building. The bolt-stunned him for the time being though he has recov ered from the ill effects suffered. In a very short space of time the en tire plant was ablaze with fire and burned so rapidly that nothing could he done to save it. This plant was constructed by the Spencer 'Mountain Mills In 1906 at a cost of $25,000 or $30,000. Its full capacity Is 1,000 'horse-power, though under the average water con ditions only about 750 to 800 horse power was developed regularly, .this being more than the company had contracts to deliver. In addition to furnishing the motive power for the Spencer Mountain Mills,, the plant also furnished all the electricity used in the town of Gastonia for lighting and for motive pdwer for the small plants in town. The city-has a con tract with the company for a stipu lated amount of power. It also fur nished power for. the 'Holland and Clara Mill In Gastonia. While hampered somewhat by the loss of its power plant the Spencer Mountain 'Mills are running a part of their machinery with power secured from the Southern Power Company wmcn enables them to take care of orders in process of filling. It Is probable that arrangements will be made to secure the necessary power from the Southern Power Company with which to operate until their own plant Is rebuilt. The city Is be ing taken care ofln this regard by the Southern Power Company with which the Spencer Mountain Mills has a primary contract. On account of this disaster the Clara Mill here Is temporarily Idle. The Dunn Mill, however, which has a contract direct with the Southern Power Company Is running as usual and will 'continue to do so.' Soon after the news of the disas ter reached Gastonia Friday after noon a number, of Gastonians went to Spencer Mountain to take a look at the havoc wrought by the angry elements. Inquiry at the court house brings the good pews that Mr. C. C. be out by the first of next week. Mr. J. W. Walters is beginnli work on bis house to be erected on South York street. Excavating for the' foundation Is being done. , Dr. Bernard- Smith returned from Jefferson Medical College, Phil adelphia, where he recently gradu ated, and will spend the summer with his parents in, Asheville. Ashevllle Citizen. - Dr. Smith is pleasantly re membered by Gastonians as the son of 'Rev. R. P. Smith, for many years pastor of the Presbyterian church. ''."''' : . . ' t. vV I ii 'I mm in. ii ' SPENCER MOUNTAIN POWER PLANT DESTROYED Mills Heavy Losers MEDIOALDOLLEGE VINDICATED. Endorsed by North Carolina Medical Society Its Head. Dr. J. P. Mon roe, Elected First Vice President of Society Its Graduates Among the First. CHARJjOTTE, N. C, June 25. The friends of the North Carolina Medical Society of this city have found much cause for gratification in the events of the past week in Char lotte, especially when they "remember the storm and- stir against the Insti tution In some quarters last year. It will be remembered that almost a year ago the college came In for some scathing criticism in a report of an "Investigator" for the Carnegie Foun dation, it being alleged that the col lege was inadequately equipped In the way of laboratories and other fa cilities for properly training young men to practice tneddolne. Following the publication of this' report the Forsyth County Medical Society, without making any attempt to veri fy tbe charges and. without making any investigations,.adopted resolu tions . which in effect protested against tbe continuance of the insti tution, asking the State to refuse to allow the college to bestow degrees and give diplomas, and appealing to the State board of examiners to re fuse to license graduates of the school. It will be further remembered.it was immediately shown that the Car negie "investigator" spent lees than an hour at the North Carolina Medi cal College, did not ask to he shown the laboratory equipment and diid not even, make It known that he in tended to make any report. The re port, when it did appear, entirely misrepresented the college, as was shown -when it came to light and has since been shown; and the resolu tions of the Forsyth 'Medical Society, which other county associations were asked to endorse, received a cold shoulder all over the State. The opening of the college for the term lust passed followed Immediately up on the great stir and the loyalty of students, alumni and friends was amply demonstrated. Tbe enroll ment was the largest In the history of the college. Under the auspices of the State Board of Health a meeting was held In the amphitheatre of the college for the purpose of organizing the North Carolina 'Health Officers' As sociation. During the convention of the North Carolina Medical Society the officers and tbe local physicians interested in the college have been prominent, and Dr. J. P. Munroe, president of the Institution, was sig nally honored, and the Institution he represents incidentally, in his elec tion as first vice-president of the society. Wednesday morning when the State board of medical examiners an nounced the list of successful appli cants for license who had stood the medical examination, It was found that 22 of the 23 graduates of the local Institution had passed, and further that, two were among the five who headed the class of appli cants that were examined, the class numbering 129. The State board was decidedly gratified and, after all the atlr that was created last year, somewhat surprised at the very thor ough and practical training the grad uates of the local institution had re ceived. The menrbers of the board, along with the other physicians who were here are much pleased with the work at tbe college and believe It has an increasingly Important place In the medical profession in the State. William B. Smoot, a well-known attorney of Salisbury, died at a hos pital in New York following a ser ious operation. H was a prominent V1 Wf ethodist, a leading Mason, member the North Carolina association and well-known throua flout the State. Misses Virginia and Kate Rob inson, of Lowell, motored up yester day afternoon for an hour' shop ping. -. Mr. and Mrs. J. W. -Kirkpatrlck and children, former residents of , Gastonia hut now living at Yorkvllle, 8. C, passed through Gastonia yester day en route home " from Hickory r where they had been visiting. City Engineer Corn well Has Mad V I - Survey cf Franklin Avenue Pro ' posed Lowering of . C. A N-W. Tracks. Sterest continues to centre many Gastonians at least ' around the entrance into the city of the Piedmont ft Northern Railway l Co's. electric line and the proposed grading or certain streets, more es , pecially Franklin avenue. Almost every day some new phase of inter est develops In tbe situation. For instance, it Is learned that the survey of Franklin avenue as made by City Engineer S. C. Cornwell, who ; is establishing tbe grades of all the v streets of tbe town as ordered re cently by the city council, calls for a four per cent grade or a fall of font ; feet every hundred feet. In this"" connection it is of especial interest to learn that the grading stakes re cently put up along Franklin avenue , " by the railroad surveyors to be fol- 't lowed by the grading forces of the ; railroad contractors and which have ' caused so much uneasiness on the -part of property owners because of the heavy cuts and fills they indicat- ed, were put up by the railroad peo- , pie without any reference whatever to the .city's accepted survey and ae , cording to a specially made profile prepared to suit tbe interests of the ' railroad company solely. If we an- ;' derstand the situation thoroughly. there is no danger of tbe railroad being allowed to grade In ' conform ty to their grading stakes as they '. now appear as the cltr will hold them strictly to the grade establish ed by tbe city engineer and accepted -by tbe city, which, we understand, is a straight four per cent grade. With a line laid on this grade It will be Impossible, Tbe Gazette is in- ' formed, for the company to haul freight trains over Franklin avenue, ' They could possibly haul one or two' loaded freight cars over such a. : grade, we are told, but no more. Engineer Cornwell has just com pleted a survey of the C. ft N.-W, -tracks inside the corporate limit. It calls for a lowering of the tracks -2 1-2 feet at the North Marietta. North Oakland and East Main street crossings and on South Broad for lowering to the level of the macad am road. To lower the -tracks mora than this on South Broad street. would, it seems, be Impracticable om account of - the great difficulty that ' would be encountered In the matter of drainage. i Heretofore what The Gazette has had to say relative to this matter has ' had reference largely to East Frank lin avenue but it develops that even, more flagrant violations of the city survey were made by tbe railroad ' people on West Franklin avenue. la one special Instance where a seven-, foot fill was called for it was staked " off for a fill of 10 feet and six inch es. All of which Is the plainest kind of evidence that the P. ft N. meat were- either negligently careless or, ' were purposely attempting to flinW flam tire city in the matter of grade. Whatever the cause or motive the re- ' suiting damage would have been the same. Death of Infant. Thomas L., the seven-months-oldl child of Mr. and Mr. Parks R. HunV stetler, died last night at the City Hospital at 12 o'clock. The-littlw one had been a sufferer for some ' time with meningitis. A few days aco be was removed to the hospital. The funeral will he conducted from the home this afternoon at 4 o'clock by Rev. R. C. Anderson and the in terment will be at Olney. The pall bearers are Messrs. W. B. Morris. Robert. L. Adams, Dan Shields and J. W. Culp. The sorrowing par ents and grandparents have the sya-' pathy of the entire community !t their sad bereavement. 1 , : ... i Approximately 20,000,000 gallons of liquor are shipped annually by express from mall order houses di rect . ; to consumers - In prohibition States. Jacksonville leads with 1 500,000 allons. These facts wars brought In an investigation by ta Interstate commerce commission. Suspected of complicity 'la the TObbery and assault of MrsC.'Roa- zelle In Spencer, four persons have been arrested In. various parts ot Rowan county by Sheriff -McKensle. While her husband was absent, Mrs . Rozzelle was beaten Into insensibili ty with a bed slat. BY LIGHTXIXG,