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VOL. LXH.No. 74 . :W weather pair I NEW BERNN. :C.; WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 17, 1913
F1V. CENTS PER COPY
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:;OiT3
'Startling Announcement Made Last Night To The Board
v oi Aldermen Lax Methods Employed in
: Administring The- City AHairs
M
Ilain Discrepancy in
Water And Ught
Department Which
Was Under Snper
lison ot John Tho-
- mas.
' . That the city of New Bern has a
deficit of ninety-four thousand, seven
, undred and thirty-three dollars and
' ; eighty-six froW-Aprir 11,911 up to June
' v ',: 30,' 1913, was the startling statement
made Jast night at a special meeting
' ' .of 'the Board of Aldermen hy Hilton
Rawlings & Company, public auditors
' ''-of Norfolk, Va., who for the past few
:V 'months have been engaged in audi
3;tlng the books of the different depart
- ments ' of the - city. - - - -
''For ae-ei-al months past the books of
tfte city have been in bad shape despite
-.thevfact th'at : many auditors , and
accountants have gone ,, over them
numerous times and have, attempted
' to straighten matters out. When the
'f r present Board of Aldermen took charge
of the administration : of the city
i. they ecHled to strasgnten oui ini muu-
y " died state of affairs and after passing
. a resolution employed the firm of Hil-
'-:X- ''toic Rawlings & Company, f Norfolk,
Va.', to do the work. ' This work has
' ' ' Cost New Bern eight thousand dollars,
' but ' there isnotthe slightest doubt
' -"' ' but that every department has been
" thoroughly audited and the Bpard and
'' citizens know Just Jiow , the city stands
financially.
" . , Time 'was reqfuired to do the work
, and the Hilton, Rawlings Company
g! - were assisted in this by W, Tv Taylor,
4 , F. B. Hill, H. L. Carmon, all of whom
' v worked under the direction of W. P.
Hilton. , The completed report com
' v '-prises three large volumes ofseveral
i j ' hundred pages and would consume hours
"' , in reading every detail. ".,..;. , .
. . The main discrepancy shown by the
report, parts of which are being reproT
' u duced, is in the Water and Light
.' Department, which during, that period
j 'was under the' supervision i of , John
i. Thomas, The report show's tliat there
is a shortage in this t department : 6f
$24,208.00 which is uncollected money.
- ,"" The report does r not "say . that Mr.
Thomas collected this money; but rather
' , states that he . was lax ia. his methods
'. ' of attending -to his offi.ee. There -are
,' a arge uu mber of accounts but only a
'few. of these have been brought in
."with the protest that they have been
- 1 ? . paid and these were not all signed by
Mr. Thomas. rf
' The Board of .Aldermen, however,
are holding Mr. Thomas ' responsible
' for the deficiency. t; After the report
k had been read there were several
verbal recommendations and it - was
ordered spread as a part of the minutes.
The City vTax ' Collector was then
ordered to place it in his safe and allow
no one to take it from the. building.
At this juncture a letter was presented
to the Board from G. A. Nicoll, repre
sentative of the National Bonding
Company of a New York, N. ,Y.,
. who are Mr. Thomas' Bondsman asking
to be relieved from ', their obligation.
A! 'erman W. B. Blades objected to
(! t made a motion to the effect
t" t Ir. 'T' -'mis be notify;! to ep;-ear
I e t' ' I et Ht-J Jzcwry meet-
' t . 'lory
i r ; ; !
- 0IF::iIi)E
GSIMM
affairs and assist them in straightening
them out. Failing'- to do this the
matter was to be placed in the hands
of the city attorney for settlement.
This resolution was passed.
"The following is a portion of the au
ditors' report:
The Auditors' Report.
"The examination has been rigid,
without prejudice to anyone interested,
the facts gathered sustain facts and
records and conditions of accounts
as we found them throughout the ex
amination. "These conditions were freely dis
cussed with all parties concerned
and every facility given for an explana
tion, -The report covers from April
1, 1911 to June 1, 1913. A complete
book-keeping system has never been
in, use and the books which had been
provided and the books which were is
urc were improperly kept almost with
out 1 exception, with the exception of
those of the treasurer, with the records
in use accounts could have been in' far
better condition if information provided
for had been entered.
"While we are inclined to make rea
sonable allowances for the transition
from the old methods and conditions
to the new," yet this is a long ways
from being sufficient to justify the state
of. your accounts considering he ease
with which the necessary information
could , have been obtained ...and put
In practice to produce, correct and com
plete statements of the city's affairs.
".".'"Without proper system of accounts
it is practically impossible for the' tax
payers if those elected and charged
with the responsibility of administer
ing ; the city affairs have been true: to
the trust to which they have aspired. !
"Auditing . committees made nine
examinations , and ., also; tone special
auditing under date of , May 6, , 1913,
which followed, generally, ( the. audi
tor's report of May 22,1,1911, made
by Leslie Abbott,, land failed to get
at true facts, v - - T '
v". "The" tendency in 'tfjeii'ty affairs is,
inasmuch.: as : the '.appointments ' are
largely 'political, and salaries not al
ways as large as are allowed in some
other lines of business,": do as little "work,
as" possible in order to fulfill, in a meas-t,
ure, the requirements , of - , the office.
In this way it generally happens that
the departments -become lax in their
method and as others administrations
cdme along and find that such methods
have . been used and ' np complaints
made, they in turn use the same method
and conditions grow worse. v -r
"While 'our report deals most speci
fically with several departments. or
offices concerned, -the fact .must not- be
lost sight of that the Board of Alder
men were lax in not seeing that officials
were- properly fulfilling the ' duties
of the offices. Quoting from- the city
charter,1 Section 3:"'That the' corporate
powerf and 'authority , hereby granted
to the city of ' New Bern shall be
vested in and exercised "by the Mayor
and ten Aldermen,Vf 'our ' opinioti, is,
it and the. succeeding chapters empha
sised the face that the responsibiltiy
of the proper administrating-of the qity
affairs rests with the Mayoi1 and Board
of Aldermen, t . ' . . ..
"The first - department reported on
by the auditor, was that -of the City
Tax Collector. In this it was found that
the errors tn old accounts amounted
to 5,507.04, all of which was paid in
full during the examination by : Mr.
J. J. Tokon, who was in charge of this
depart, lent.
C::y T rer. - '
This department was found o be
the neatest and most accurate' kept
under the plan in vogue.
Water and Light Department.
The report on this department was
the one abput which there has been so
many rumors during the 'past few
months, and a large number of those
in attendance at the meeting were
on hand especially for the purpose of
hearing this. "J. C. Thomas had entire
charge of billing and collecting in this
department," stated the report, "and
on account of loose methods with which
the accounts were handled, the accounts
were in a deplorable and chaotic
condition. Mr. Thomas could not
satisfactorily explain this condition
and finally refused to assist in straight
ening up."
Continuing, the report says: "In
order to get the true condition of ac
counts it was necessary to set them
up in detail from the original meter
readings and flat rate memorandum,
including the light consumers' account
from May and June, 1913, which was
issued by the new collector, F. M. Scott,
the total amount unpaid by both
light and water consumers as of June
30, 1913, was: $24, 566.00 as follows:
"Consumers for light $11,133.63
"Consumers for water 7,224.37
"Total for consumers $18,358.00
"City for light $4,608.00
"City for water. 1,600.00
"Total for City 6,208.00
"Grand Total, $24,566.00.
'Whatever the city recovers from
this amount rests largely with the action
taken by the Board or the committee
to whom the accounts are referred,"
says the report- , ;
The auditor then rendered a report
of the finance of the city, the auditing
department, cemetery department, and
police department. After ; 'concluding
these the report says: . "Taking 'all
accounts, of) the city exclusive "of sth
city school accounts, the- total deficit
to June .30,913, is $94,733.86; which
arises largely from bringing the accrued
sipking fund into the accounts.-
Another, matter which was to have
been acted upon last night was that of
receiving the bids for twenty thousand
dollars worth .of bonds, the proceeds
from which are to.be used, in the erec
tion of additional building at the pub
lic schools. This matter was not acted
upon. . . -'
Upon motion of Alderman Blades
a -,j voucher for ' two thousand dollars
wa? 'ordered given to Hilton-Rawlings
& Company in final payment for-their
work in . auditing the books of the
city. . . , i
LAND SALE TOMORROW.
Valuable ' Property "At Vanceboro
To Be Disposed Of.
Tomorrow morning twenty-five busi
ness lots, fifty residences lots and five
shall farms which comprises the valua
ble tfact 'of land known as the White
farm', at Vancebonv will be offered for
sale at public auction at 'prices which
will 'suit the' purchaser. ' '' '
Penny brothers will conduct this sale
and it will start ; at ; 10:30 o'clock.
There will doubtless be a large number
of persons .attending this ..sale and
ample preparations have been made to
furnish them "with refreshments. . There
will be several hundred sandwiches,
fruit and plenty of cold drinks-for all
and a cordialy invitation to attend is
extended the public:: ? . r- r
The best way to find a mares-nest
is ti send out a Congressional invest
t' -iig committee. ' - ,
Cf course the man who advocates
"back to the farm" cannot be the man
FEDERAL
ACTIVITY
TO
With - His Forces Scattered Real
Opportunity Faces
Huerta.
MAKE
MILITARY
TRAP
Situation At Chihuahua On Ac
count Of Expulsion Of
Spaniards Critical.
Juarez, Mexico, December 16.
While rebel headquarters in Juarez to
day was sending urgent messages to Gen.
Francisco Villa, the rebel commander
at Chihuahua, telling him he was
incurring the displeasure of foreign
countries in his actions toward Span
iards and other foreigners and asking
him. to modify his attitude, General
Villa himself was said to be seriously
concerned over the renewal Federal ac
tivity.
Reports were that Federals were
advancing toward Chihuahua from
Torreon, about 200 miles south. Villa
has scattered his forces by sending
troops to surround the Federals at
Ojinaga, on the borde, while gar
risoning Juarez and Chihuahua. This
was said to offer the Federals an op
portunity to strike at Chihuahua.
Federal troops were also reported on
their way from Monterey with a view
of strengthening the position of the
Huerta Government in the interior.
An attack on Chihuahua, which is
not regarded as imminent, would cut
Villa off from any base on the border
It was conceded by rebels tht the
first act of the Federals, should they
arrive in the vicinity of Chihuahua,
would be to stop all telegraph and
railroad communication. Thus the
Federal evacuation of Chihuahua
which occurred two weeks ago and
enabled Villa to enter the State Cap
ital without a battle, would prove to
be a military trap out of which the
rebels would have to fight their way.
The olan which the rebel forces
think the Federals possibly are try
ing to work out is to draw as many
as possible of the rebels toward
Ojinaga while Federals from the
south reach Chihuahua. Others be
lieve the Federal activity southward
may be merely a preparation to check
Villa's projected march on Torreon.
The situation at Chihuahua, on ac
count of the protest of Spaniards
against their expulsion from Mexico,
was critical today. It was under
stood arrangements were made for
the sending of an official inquiry from
the American government to Villa
throueh Consul Letcner. Villa is
making progress with the disposal of
goods" which he seized from the
Spaniards. All the food and clothing
in the Spanish retail stores were sold
for less than half price. Word came
that Luis Terrazas, Jr., for whose reT
lease from prison an appeal was sent
to Secretary of State Bryan already
had granted loans to Villa. This took
the form of checks in small denomi
nations, aggregating $250,000 and the
checks were being used as currency.
One explanation given by General
Bevadives, commander at Juarez, re
garding Villa's acts in Chihuahua was
th.it Villa had been consistent to his
own ideas as to what warfare was but
had been without advice in regard to
the rights of foreigners.
There was no fighting today at
Ojinaga, where General Mercado, the
Federal commander, is camped.
HOTEL WAITRESS STRICKEN
WITH APPENDICITIS.
Miss Bertha Simpson, one of the
waitresses at the James Hotel, suffered
an attack of appendicitis Monday night
and was yesterday taken to Stewart's
sanatorium for-treatment. Her condi
tion is not considered critical.
t
PREPARING FOR PEPSI-COLA
' " '- CONVENTION.
v The -next annual convention of the
Pepsi Cola Bottlers will be held in this
city on January 21 to 24 and prepar
ations foe the entertainment : of the
visitors while in the city are now being
made. The business sessions are always-
held at the home office of the company
and at' this 'building the offices are
being repainted and put in shape for
the ' reception of the ' visitors. -. j
The gas freight boat Lillie arrived in
port yesterday from Hobucken with a
cargo of Jones' Bay oysters.
CONCERN
VILLA
G. Lansbury
v ' , i v ' 1
t A 'v-i"'', If
Mfr. George Lansbury, who for
twenty-one years gas been con
nected with the British Government
in one capacity or another, who
resigned his seat in Parliament
because he did not like the treat
ment accorded to women in the
consideration of the Suffrage Bill
and who was arrested last Sunner
for his inflammatory speeches and
soon afterwards released under the
"cat and mouse" act, is coming
to the United States to tell what
is the matter with England.
The more one reads of M s. Pank
hurst the more apparent it becomes
that she had a very dull time in this
con ntry.
Those Chicago hotel beds at 5 cents
i night must be for the fellows who do
not care where they wake up in the
morning.
The White House mini bed has been
destroyed, and some people seem de
termined to .see that the President will
have no bed of roses.
An All Star Company Pre
senting High Glass Tab
loid Musical Comedies
appeared again last night in one of their
high class musical comedies at the
Athens to an overflowing house. This
company is one of the cleanest and best
ever to appear on a vaudeville stage
in New Bern. Favorable comment
could be heard on every hand jrom our
patrons as they passed out.V Today,
matinee and night, they will appear
in a complete cnange, presenting a
very funny comedy act, entitled:
"A Night on Bingham's Roof Gar
den."
The managers of the company say
this comedy will cure the most chronic
case of "blues" in town.
PICTURES.
"The Fifth String."
This is l two reel, Selig special re
lease picture. A pictorial adaptation
of the remarkable symbolic story
from" the pen of the worldiamous
"March King," John Philip Sousa.
"The fifth string" of the mysterious
violin of fate, is symbolic of death
; and it is so ordained that whosoever
shall but even touch this "fifth siring,"
while playing the violin, shall pay this
penalty. A successful young musician'
everyman, lionized by society, plays
upon the four strings of this violin,
and finds his every wish gratified.
To him comes love, happiness, power
and success. He is urged .to "play
the forbidden "fifth string1' ind in' spite
of his better jugement finally consent
to do so, with the foreordained and
terrible result, of death.
If you would know the . secret of
success, see this picture. s
Then we have a Vitagraph comedy
; "Cutey'a Waterloo'.".
Featuring Lillian Walker and Hugh-
ey Mack, the big fat funny comedian.
Cutey flatters himse I -so much, - he
thinks the girls are all in love with himj
He finds out they are not, and beats a
retreat. Some laughs to this picture.
Matinee daily at 3:45. two shows at
night, firit starts at ?:30,; second at
about 9:15. (;. M'P-"?iiK
To see a good show for., the, least
money, in all your travels, come to the
Athens, the real theatre, "biiilir fcf
the business from the ground up,''
See?- s - ' c t ,
AUT0M0BILIST5 TO
VISIT NEW BERN
Representatives Of American
Auto Association Are
Coming.
ARE LOGGING THE ROUTE.
Roads Of The County Should
Be In Good
Shape.
The Journal is in receipt of the fol
lowing communication from G. D.
Canfield, of Morehead City, organizer
of the Southern National Highway:
"The American Automobile Associa
tion representative have arranged
to log the eastern end of the Ocean to
Ocean Highway from Durham to
Morehead City. Leave Durham on the
19th as per the following schedule:
Leave Durham 8:00 a. m., 19th, arrive
at Raleigh 10:00 p. m., Clayton 11:30,
Smithfield dinner, Goldsboto 3:30, Kin
ston night, leave Kinston 8:00, NewBera
dinner, thence to Morehead City.
It is to the interest of the various towns
through which this road passes to see
that their road is in as good condition
as possible, as the condition of the roads
will be published in detail on the
Automobile Journals and logging books
of the American Automobile Associa
tion. This logging trip will complete
the logging of the Southern National
Highway from the Pacific, to the At
lantic, and it will be worth the trouble
and expense to all the towns along the
route on account of the advertising
they will receive."
The citizens of New Bern and Cravea
county are greatly interested in this
action on the part of the Americas
Automobile Association to log this end
of the ocean to ocean highway and will
do their part in getting the roads in
good shape for I he inspection of the
visitors.
Along with this party of automobilists
will be several newspaper men who
will write upa description of the country
through which they pass. Naturally
it wili be up to this section to make a
good a showing as possible and every
citizen along the proposed route is
requested to do his part.
L PROCEED AGAINST
EXPRESS COMPANIES
STATE TREASURER PUTS BACK
TAX CASES IN ATTORNEY
GENERAL'S HAND.
Raleigh, Dec. 17. State Treasurer
Lacy said today that the express com
panies were declining to pay the
$20,000 of back taxes due the state
under the recent order of the corpor
ation commission, and that he has
notified the attorney general to proceed
and enforce (he law.
This sum is the aggregate of
amounts which for the last four or
five years the express people have
been deducting from their gross
taxes to reimburse themselves for
what they paid to the railroad com
panies. It represents the. sum paid
to the railroads for transportation.
The tax on express companies un
der the former revenue acts, was
2 1-2 per cent, of gross receipts. The
revenue act of 1913 carried a clause
authorizing the collection of unpaid
back taxes for four or five years.
The corporation commission is
reviewing the records of the various
public service corporations, found
that in rendering its statement of
gross receipts each year, the South
ern Express Company had deducted
therefrom the amount they had been
paying the railroad companies fof
carriage. The commi sion ruled
that the total amount received in
North Carolina, constituted the
gross receipts and ordered the com
pany to pay the back taxes on the
amounts so dedicated for the sev
eral years covered by the new act.
This the express company has re- ,
fused to do, and the state treasurer ,
is proceeding to - use the executive
machinery of the state in collection.:
Mr. Allen is a former New Berniaa
and has a host of friends in this sectioa
who will read the above with interest
Mr. Allen is a brother of Mrs. C. L".
Ives ''of -.this" city, , ,
; Hobson'sjSenatorial candidacy shows
that he still believes in taking des
perate chance. , 1 .
i
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