THE HOKE COUNTY NEWS
IME XXVII—NO. .1
THE HOKE COUNTY JOURNAL
RAEFORD, N. C., FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 1981
$1.50 YEAR, IN ADVANCE
u:
Hoke County Officers Hosfe to
Officers of the 252iid Regiment
Not^ Military and Civilian Guests Join Local
OfFicers Association In Brilliant Banquet
and Ball.
DQEIINCA8E
mSlD MINDAY
Charge of Manslaughter Dis
missed by Judge Sinclair-
Found Gi^ty of Hit-and-
Run—
On€ of the most brilliant social
events ever to be given in Rae-
ford was consummated here last
Saturday night when the. .banquet
and hall tendered to the officers
of the two hundred and fifty second
regiment of the ■ coast artillery,
North Carolina National Guard by
the Officers Association of Holte
•County, were given, splendidly in
spite of the weather which ranged
from inclement to beastly. The
gusty,' drenching night, fortunately
had little effect on the attendance
.and little or no effect on the mood
of the guests who came from near
REV. H. C. SMITH
HOLDS SERVICES
Presiding Elder of Rocking
ham DiafAct Speaks Daily
At the' Methodist G^urch
This Week—
A series of protracted meetings
were instituted at the Methodist
i church in Raeford on Sunday ana
, will continue through the coming
Sunday. Meetings are being held
every morning at ten o’clock and
every evening at seven-thirty. The
TWO MEN KILLED
IN SANFORD MINE
Cave-ln Following Explosion
Buries Father and Son —
Frantic Efforts At Rescue
Prove In Vain—
Meeting At Courthouse Today To
Discuss New Aid To the Farmer
Interested Citizens To Discuss Means of Coop^
erative Sale of Cream—O. O. Dukes Will
Speak.
I
-I
The trial of Paul Dezerne on four
charges of Manslaughter and one
of hit and run came to an end
Tuesday at Sanford with the con
viction of Dezerne on the charge
of hit and run. Raeford and Hoke
meetings are under the charge of | ^jjyg jjy cave-in twenty-six hun-
Reverend Floyd Trawick and the j fggj below the surface.
Reverend H. C. Smith, presiding . . ■ .
, ,1 The two men went into the mine
elder of the Rockingham district of j
the North Carolina Methodist Con-
ference is speaking at the mornin"
A mine tragedy, the third in six
years, occurred in the shaft of the
Carolina Coal mines, at Coal Glen,
ten miles from Sanford, last Sat
urday night. Two men, L. A. Hon
eycutt, and his seventeen year old
son, Elbert Honeycutt, were buried I Lumberton and Concord Will
Show the Great Possibilities
COnON EXPOSITION
IDEA
I county friends of Dezerne, of whom
and far to enjoy the hospitality of | g great many, followed
the local officers. The spirit of the ^jjg gf ns phases and
-occasion was a, dir^t fulfillment of
the old - adage that the weather is
t always excellent when congenial
companionit. are assembled.
• The Klwanis hall which has seen
BO many delightful banqnets pre-
'sented a gay appearance as the
guests walked in to begin the fes-
tlvities. The walls were dignified
t with crossed flags and' the, room | gd gf side-swiping the car just pre
decorated with red| white andlylous to the accident. Both Mr.
ivas
$
Wue bunting. At the end of the
hall a large “252” showed the a'.lei-
gance of the guests. The uniforms
d^ the soldiers contrasted with the
-,U"-
•:.'i
colorful' gossamer of the evening f protesting their affection for and
"owns of the lady guests and the their faith in the accused man.
whole scene was one in which in- in the court trial which started
. splratlon abounded. ..v-Two.-.’BOtable.
local „ guests added the final tone
with their natty black and white
outfits.
The banquet was opened with the
ringing strains of “America”, and
an invocation by..the /regimental
chaplain, Cftpt. Brayshaw. Thl^
was followed by the conventional
welcome, done however in most
interesting style.'The special guests
and principal speakers were seaterl
to the left and right of the; toast
master, Captain Lawrence Poole.
In addition to the speeches^ of wel
come and the response, the follow
ing officers made short talks: Gen
eral Metis, Colonel Smith, Colonel
McClelland, Major Kemble, Captain
Brayshaw and Major Lewis. Mrs.
Barrington sang several numbers
to the delight of the audience.
Following the banquet, the guests
and hosts' adjourned to the armory
where they 'indulged in several de
lightful social hours. Dancing was
enjoyed until twelve, with Walter
Kelly and his orchestra furnishing
splendid music. For the social
hours a number of outside* guests
were present. Those attending the
banquet were:
J’rom Raleigh, Gen. J. B. ifc^an
Metis and Col. Gordon Srnith. From
'Wilmington, Colonel R. S. McClel
land, Major F. Kemlfie and Mrs.
Kemble, Capt. C. d! Cunningham
and . Mrs. Cunningham, Lt. Joe
Howie and Mrs. Howie, Lt. R. P.
Houston, Lt. Haskett and Miss
D’Ollve, Capt. Bradshaw. From
Lumberton, Capt. W. H. Humphrey
and Mrs. Humphrey, Lt. Y. Floyd
and Mrs. Floyd, Lt. McNeill. From
Hlgh^^5int, dapt. J. L. Raper, Capt.
‘ Sam,y]>avi8, Lt. McAuley. From
Greeti^vJ)ro, Major R. L. Lewis and
Mrs. Lewis, Capt. Ike Wrenn and
, Miss Wright, Capt. Patterson, Lt.
Floyd, Lt. Sharpe, Lt. Nolan and
Mrs. Nolan, Lt. Ford and Miss Di
nette. From Raeford, Colonel Bob
Lewis, Capt. Rube Poole, Capt.
John Walker aild Mrs. Walker,
Capt. J. H. Blue and Mrs. Blue,
’ Capt. K. A. Mathe’son and Mrs.
Matbeson, Lt. Herbert McKelthan
and Mrs. McKelthan, Lt. Y. S.
Snead and Miss Jean LaMont, Lt.
J. A. McPhaul and Miss McPhaul,
Lt. 'McNair Smith and Mrs. Fred
ericks of Monroe, Lt. H. A. Currie,
» Tommie Upchurch and Mrs. tfp-
church, and Lt. Rothgib of Sana
torium. (Mrs. Ina Bethune and W.
R. Barrington of Raeford.
and evening services.
Mr. Smith is a minister of ex
perience and note throughout the
state for a good many years, his
last one being the Duke Memorial
church in Durham, N. C. While at
this" church he made a name for
his clear thinking and whole heart
ed devotion to his Master’s cause.
HiS' members were viery unwilling
to let him go when he was called
to the position of Presiding Elder
of the Rockingham district and they
hope to have him back some day. In
his present position as President
Elder, Mr. Smith has active over-
,sight of over 25 pastorates, a job
wljich taxes .the strength of any
minister but one which he per
forms with loyalty and diligence.
HiSu sermons are powerful and con
•icting and his personality is one
that wins those with whom he
in contact.
Attendance at both the morning
and evening services has been very
good, but there is still much to be
, , desired. The people of the commaii
last-Wednesday the state-presented churches or of no cburch
its evidence to support the charge*
persisted in their belief that he
was innocent and their offers of
ai(i in any possible capacity.
The trial came as the result of a
fatal automobile accident near San
ford at Christmas time. A car
swerved from the road and ran in
to a tobacco barn nearby, which
collapsed on the car. Four people
were killed and Dezerne was accus-
and Mrs. Dezerne disclaimed any
knowledge of the hitting of the
car. Raeford friends went in great
numbers to the preliminary hearing,
For some time there had been no
operation of the shaft but two
shifts of two men each were em
ployed to keep the shafts fiee of
of Colton As Wearing Ma
terial—
New vicinities are rushing to the
rescue of the imperiled southern
King, Cotton first, and the principle
of forwarding the cause of his ma
jesty by introducing the fibre to
water. On Sunday morning the two ^gw uses is proving popular au l
of manslaughter and at the end
5f this evidence on Thursday
morning the court dismissed the
charges of manslaughter, which is
equivalent to a verdict of not. guil-
ty.
On the charge of hit and run, in
spite of evidence given by Paul
Dezerne, his wife, and' others, he
was found guilty. The defendant
and his counsel, fearing that the
bulge would set this verdict aside
and necessitate the expense and
embarrassment of another trial did
not make a motion to set this ver
ilct aside. The friends of the de
fendant were strong in the opinion
that the judge would have set this
verdict aside on petition, in view
of the weight of the greater part
of the evidence.
Having submitted to the judg
ment Paul Dezerne was taxed with
a fine of one hundred dollars and
costs and was ordered to pay into
court one thousand and fifteen dol
lars and fifty cents for the benefit
of Mrs. BrafEord and children. Two
hundred and fifteen dollars and fifty
cents of this- amount had already
been payed by Dezerne for the bur
ial expenses of Sam Brafford and
his child.
The many friends of Mr. Dezerne
in this community continue in their
belief in his innocence. They feel
that although there as a probability
of setting this verdict aside by pe
titloning the judge, the embarrass
ment and expense of a new trial
would surpass such an .action. Mr.
Dezerne’s fortitude throughout this
trying experience has been in direct
keeping with the fine qualities that
have endeared him to so many
Hoke county people.
vices and hear these stirring mes
sages from God’s word. Special
music is provided by the choir and
a helpful message is assured at
each service.
men who had gone down the uigiit
Letore did not appear and the peo
ple became alarmed. A crew of
forty men were summoned and
worked in shifts of twenty minutes
each clearing away the debris which
choked the shaft after the slide.
The air tube was clear and it was
thought that the men could be
reached and brocght to safety. Af
ter hours of feverish work however
the bodies -of the two men were
found, imprisoned under a mass of
debris.
It was first thought that what
had occurred was a cave-in caused
by the heavy rains of the week
end. Later reports however say
that mine officials believe there
was an explosion. They stated
however that no estimate of the
probable cause could be formed
until the shaft was cleared of ob
struction.
The Carolina Coal Mines are the
same mines in which the disaster
of 1925 occurred. In' that year ex
plosions occurred there which took
fifty-two lives. Some years later
two workmen were killed while
being lowered into the shaft.
Local Ladies Go
To Goldsboro Meet
successful.
Following the tremendous suc
cess of the Gastonia festival other
towns in the state have adopt'..-!
the plan and are carrying it for-
v^ard in their own neighborhoods.
This spreading of the idea is an
integral part of the success of the
Gastonia event, for it was the hope
of the instigators of the Cotton Ex
position that the idea would spread.
It has spread perhaps more swift
ly and concretely than they imag
ined
Dispatches from Concord indicate
j that the exposition planned there
for this spring will be larger and
more elaborate than that of Gas
tonia. Negotiations up north with
world figures in the textile indus
try and members of the president’s
cabinet have met with succes", and
promise to make this exposition an
other huge boost to cotton.
A TREE REVOLTS
No man has bitten a dog, but
here’s a news article which quite
coincides with the well worn stan-
Flve, Raeford ladies were among ^ dard of news. 'When a car hits
a tree it’s not news—It’s a daily
exercise. But when a tree enraged
at the Insults visited upon it’s
tribe, hits a car—that’s news of
the rariest sort. It happened near
Raeford Tuesday night when an en
raged tree struck a defenseless
Ford coupe sleeping beneath its
tossing branches. To whom the
car belonged must remain a secret,
the hundreds from all over the
state who attended the State Con-'
ventlon of Federated Music Clubs
in Goldsboro. The local ladles
were members of the Chaminade
club which is a well known mem
ber of the State Federation.
Mrs. Clyde Upchurch, president
Df the Chaminade club, Mrs. W. T.
Covington, Mrs. Marshall Thomas,
'/Lrs. J. W. McLaughlin, left Raeford
Friday morning and attended the
second day of the annual meeting.
Some musical exerci^ were on the
program in addition to the business
jf the State Federation.
A particularly striking feature of
the program was the work of Lee
Briggs, a 17 year old student of
.Asheville High school wljo is being
hailed as a musical prodigy. Briggs
has written an orchestral score of
high merit, “Hill Billy.” On Satur-
RAEFORD GIRL HONORED
Hoke county friends have receiv
ed with interest the news of the
recent honor conferred upon Katie
Bell McLean, a Raeford girl who is
a student of Queens College in
Charlotte. Miss IMcLean was re
cently elected to the, office of hos-
because his insults to wo id tribe
might be investigated, aul prove
embarrassing.
day he conducted a high school or
chestra, composed of musicians from
the schools all over the state, in
several scenes including his own
composition. The Chaminade duo,
through the State Federation is
sponsoring the further musical ed
ucation of this brilliant young musi
clan.
At three o’clock this afternooOr
Friday, there will be a meeting at
the courthouse in Raeford, which
should prove of interest to all citi
zens of Hoke County interested la
commercial production of milk. Th®
movement which was started somet
weeks ago to establish a cooperar
five Creamery in Raeford is still
being considered by County Agent
Purton and at the meding which is
announced an effort will be made to
ascertain the exact amount of in
terest extant in the county. The
meeting will serve the dual pur
pose of a poll of the interest of th®
citizens and a means of informing
those interested of the exact na
ture of the depot which is proposed
and the purpose which it will serve.
Mr. O. O. Oukes, able farm dem
onstrator of Robeson County will
be present at the meeting and will
make the principal talk. Mr. DUkes
will have, in addition to his knoww
ledge of the subject generally ®
concrete example in the cream de
pot at Lumberton, which althougli
recently established is already do
ing excellent work and proving a
boon to the cow owners of that
territory. A similar depot is also
at work in Red Springs, and the
cooperative patrons are profiting
from it.
The precise function of the cream
depot as it is proposed in Raeford,
would be to provide a central and
definite place at which farmers
might deliver their"'excess cream.
The depot would be in charge of
are being laid for a cotton con
clave with brilliant features. This
will afford Hoke county people to
get a look in at this new principle
which the News - Journal fostered
and presented to its readers when
it was conceived by the Gastonia
Chamber of Commerce in the fall of
1930.
One of the surest ways of bring
ing cotton back to its place in in
dustry is to redeem cotton fiom
the trash heap of cheapness and
show the world of clothes buyers
the beauty and durability that m.ay
be found in cotton fabrics. Peo
ple will never wear cotton to help
farmers. Properly informed by
these exhibitions however, they will
wear it for its own sake.
As nearby as Lumberton plans ^ man who would keep accounts
and- officially operate the depot. A
nearby creamery would send trucks
for the cream at regular intervals
and pay the depot once per month.
The farmers however who deliver
their cream there would be payed
upon delivery. Payment would bo
upon the basis of butter fat and
consequently it would necessitato
the installation of machinery to
separate the cream from the milk
and establish the amount of butter
milk in the cream. EJqulpment for
sterilization of containers and the
other standard fixtures of such an
operation would be installed
It is to be hoped that all tho
people of the county who are in
terested in this proposition will ba
piesent at the meeting at the court
house Friday' at three o’clock. If
there are a sufficient number who
show their interest theje is little
doubt that the cream depot can be
established and that it will be of
a good deal of benefit to those ua-
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS
STRONG THIS WEEK
You hold in your itands an an
cient infant. Twentj'-five years is
not so old; ordinarily it is tho be
ginning of life. Yet newspapers ago
more quickly than people. At 25
a newspaper is ancient, hoary, a
fixture that seems without begin
ning.
It all begair with the Raefovd In
rtitute, as did so many things that
are taken for granted today. The
students of the Institute used to
write news articles for the daily
and weekly papers. They sought
publicity for their school and there
was no paper in this immediate
section. This was journalism’s first
bow in the section which later be-
tess of the Y. W- C. A. hut at | came Raeford.
Queens. The Hut is one of the The first paper published in Rae
centers of social life for the col- Iford was not printed here. J. W,
lege girls and the election to the i Fagan of Aberdeen printed a sheet
honor of Hostess is a distinct hon-1 in a printing office there and dis-
or. Her many friends congratulate tributed it through the Raeford pot
llatie Bell. ' office. Fagan printed the Aberdeen
Telegram and the Raeford Chron
icle In Aberdeen from 1896 until
1905.
In 1905 D. Scott Poole publish
ed the first paper printed in Rae
ford with the equipment he had
hobght from Fagan. His paper 'was
“Facts and Figures.” In May 1911
Fred Johnson bought the paper and
the Hoke County Journal appear
ed for the first time. In tom the
paper was edited by a Mr. Carlysle
and then Mr. J. W. Johnson took it
over. In 1914 a Joint stock company
ran the paper and Bion Butler
edited it. D. Scott Poole reobtained
possession of the paper in 1915 and
ran it until he sold it in 1929, on
November 6, to Paul Dickson and
R. L. Eastham.
Such -Is the story - of the' only
in Hoke county as it
In its uneasy chair
Ashemont School
Plans Lunches
The Ashemont P. T. A. held its
regular monthly meeting, which
was the last for the year, Wednes
day evening, March 26th. An in
spirational program was rendered
to a large group of parents and
teachers.
The thing that received the most
attention and that wms set as tho
' goal of the P. T. A. for next year
I was the planning for the canning
I of soup mxture to be used for free
lunches next year. Mrs. D. H. John
son, Mrs. J. T. Robinson, and Mrs.
E. R. Pickier were appointed as a
committee to work out some plan
of canning. They are to make a
report during commencement. The
association voted to ask the county
commissioners to provide cans for
the~vwork.
The matter of a pre-school clinic
was discussed and Tuesday, March
31, was set as the 'date. Dr. R. L.
Murray of Raeford and Mrs. Moss
of the Sanatorium 'will conduct the
clinic.
nowspaper
settles back
Death of Miss Lula Bottoms
Miss Lula Bottoms, an aged lady,
died at Highsmiths Hospital iu
Fayetteville last Friday, the victim
of cancer. She had been seriously
ill for some time and little hope
for her recovery -was entertained.
Although born in South Carolina
she had been living in Hoke county
for six years. She was buried at
ar.d takes a glass of prlnterq ink Brownville, twelve miles b|low Beu-
tp _ all its friends. nettsvllle on Saturday, March, 28.
ing it.
DR. BITTINGER HONORED
Hoke county friends of Dr. S. M.
Bittinger of Sanatorium. X. C., will
be interested and pleased to read
of the distinctive honor recently ac
corded him by the American CoUeg®
of Physicians. Dr. Bittinger, al
though his time is largely taken up
with responsible work at the sana-
toriifm, has Interested himself con
sistently in the work and welfare
of the county as a whole, he is ac
tive in the Raeford Kiwanis Club
and has a host of friends through
out the county.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Please allow me space In your
paper to extend my heart felt
thanks to the large number of cit
izens who have stood by me so
loyally In my recent trouble caused
by a •wreck near Sanford last
Christmas. The fact that so many
prominent people left their "work,
attended the trial and did every
thing in their power to help me is
appreciated beyond the power of
words to express. ’ I also deeply
appreciate the many expressions of
belief in my innocence in this case.
The help and cumtideuce shown 'ma
during this trouble will be one of
my life’s sweetest memories.
PAUL D. D£Z£RN& ' '
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