I 10 PAGES
I TODAY
'll 11. 1921*.
Published Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Afternoons
By mall, per year On advance) $2.50
Carrier, per year Un advance) $3.00
r
LATE NEWS
The Markets.
Shelby, spot cotton _20c
Cotton Seed, bn.___70!ic
Showers Likely.
Today’s North Carolina Weather
Report: Fair and warmer tonight.
Tuesday cloudy and warmer in
east, possible showers In extreme
southwest portion.
Tax Warning Given.
Mayor W. N. Dorsey, formerly a
real estate dealer himself, an
nounced today that the biggest real
estate deal in the history of Shelby
would likely be transacted soon un
less a big amount of unpaid taxes
and paving assessments are paid At
an early date by local citizens.
More than $55,000 in taxes, due last
November, are unpaid he says as
well as $20,000 paving assessments
long past due. At the next meeting
of the board details will be worked
out, it is announced, for advertis
ing the property of delinquents.
Cleveland Has
Debt Smaller
Than Averege
Eighty Counties In State Have
Heavier Debts Than Does
This County.
On’y 19 of the 100 counties in
North Carolina are less in debt,
which reversed means that 80
North Carolina counties are more
heavily in debt than this county.
Figures just issued by the State
Tax Commission show that the
Cleveland county public debt is on
ly 8.4 per cent of the assessed val
uation, while the debt of the aver
age North Carolina county is 13
per cent of the assessed valuation,
or five per cent more than Cleve
land county.
Two far eastern counties, Carteret
and Currituck, have the distinction
of being the most heavily in debt
and the freest from debt. Carteret's
total debts, including county, city
non-bonded, amounts to 37.1 per
cent of fits assessed valuation,
while the indebtedness of Curri
tuck Is only 2.9 per cent of its as
sessed valuation, according to the
report recently made public by the
state’s tax commission.
Gates, with a 4.4 per cent indebt
edness, Davis and Warren, with 4.8
per cent each and Northamoton,
with 5 per cent, follow Currituck
on small percentage of indebtedness
as compared with their assessed
valuation.
The percentage of the Cleveland
county debt is less than that of any
adjoining county as the following
figures show:
County Debt % of Valua’.
Cleveland S3.236.996 8.4
Burke $2,081,574 8.8
Catawba $4,969,350 11.7
Lincoln $1,847,450 11.7
Rutherford *6,757,724 16.1
Gaston $8,597,044 8.7
Office-* In Drive
On Booze Traffic
During Week-End
Ma>e Several Raids In Three Sec
tions Of Town. Dozen Drunks
Nabbed.
Members of Police Chief McBride
Poston's bluecoat force and county
deputies cooperated Saturday even
ing and Sunday in staging a gen
eral drive against bootleg traffic in
Shelby. In the drive, homes in Cur
tlstown, west Shelby, and uptown
rooming houses were searched and
liquor found, the officers say, at
three of the places, while during
the round-up a dozen or more
drunks were placed in the county
Jail.
One of the raids made was in a
room over the Colonial service sta
tion on South LaFayette street
where a gallon and one-half of
whiskey was found along with a
case of pint bottles and other ves
sels. Neither of the two men, said
to room in the building were pres
ent when the officers made their
visit but were located and placed
under bond today it was learned
Just before press time.
Other raids unearthed pints
and quantities smaller than one
gallon, while at one home the of
ficers say they found empty pint
bottles concealed in piles of ashes
abou$ the home.
H*w'-in« Brothers
Will Sell Radios
Hawkins Brothers, agents in this
territory for Oldsmobile. have now
taken on the Crosley radio, and are
advertising this popular set for the
first time in today’s issue of The
Star. Radio, they say, is becoming
more and more the indoor pastime
of America, and they are seeking to
get in on the ground floor of the
big company.
Fiddlers Convention.
There will be a fiddlers conven
tion at Race Patch school house
Wednesday night, March* 13, 1P2P at
A 8:30 P. V- Proceeds will go for the
benefit the school.
Charter Bill
May Net Get
By Legislature
Session May Close Before Local
Bills Get Cp, Mail Says. Other
Legislation.
The legislative bill making sever
al changes in the Shelby city ehar
j ter may not become a law at the
, present session of legislature, due to
the fact that the present term will
likely convene in a week or so and
State bills will be given leeway over
all local legisatlon.
This was the opinion expressed
here Saturday by Representative
Odus M. Mull, who was a I home for
the week-end.
What He Says.
“The legislature has already rul
ed that local bills coming in during
. the fag end of the session will be
placed at the foot of the calendar
1 and will be taken up only when im
portant State matters are disposed
of. Since there are quite a number
of State measures yet to be dispos
ed of it is doubtful whether or not
j the charter bill will be reached be
fore the session adjourns,’’ Mr. Mull
' said.
“Just which of the two charter
bills do you plan to introduce, if
possible to get any in, when you re
turn to Raleigh?” Mr. Mull was ask
ed by The Star.
“The last one sent down by the
mayor and aldermen, I suppose,” he
answered. “So far I have heard no
criticism since you published it in
your paper, and since it differs very
little from the first bill sent down
(Continued on page ten.)
Injured List At
Hospital Climbs;
Two Auto Victims
Two Youths Hurt When Car
Crashes Into Buffalo Bridge.
Negroes Fight.
Week-end accidents and brawls
in and about Shelby added consid
erably to the injured list at the
Shelby io-r.ual
About 1 o'clock Sunday morning
two young White men Jake Black,
of Kings Mountain, and Louis
Fneed of Cherry v’Hc, were brought
to the hospital suffering with in
juries received, it is said, when the
car they were riding in crashed
into the bridge over Buffalo creek
at Stubbs. Flack, hospital officials
i say, has a fractured jaw-bone while
Sneed ha? a fractured leg. Neither,
however, 's considered to be in
critical condition now.
Otis Eskridge and Sam Dillard,
colored men, with bruises and lac
erations about their heads and
necks were brought to the hospital
Saturday night late after what of
ficers saj» must have been a gen
eral free-for-all at a colored home
just a rhort distance west of town
where a dance was being held.
When officers arrived at the house
all participants and dancers had
vanished, some of them leaving
their hats and coats in their haste.
Powell No Better.
The condition of Mr. W. T. Pow
ell, of the Union section, who was
severely burned about his head and
hands when the oil tank on the en
gine of his corn mill exploded last
Thursday, has not improved much
it was said today at the hospital.
Quilley Lankford Is
Dead At Belmont Mill
Quilley Lankford, age 82, died
this morning at 6:30 o’clock at the
Belmont Mill after the third stroke
of paralysis. Mr. Lankford is sur
vided by two children, Mrs. C. W.
Baker of Shelby and Mrs. J. M.
Joines of Buffalo, together with
fifteen grandchildren and two
great grandchildren.
The funeral will be conducted
Tuesday afternoon at 2 o’clock and
interment will be at Buffalo church
of which he had been a member for
fifty.
Former Shelby Girl
Dies In Salisbury
Mrs. Patton, formerly Miss Eliz
abeth Kendrick who lived here as
a young girl with her parents, Mr.
and Mrs. P. Hill Kendrick died in
Salisbury Saturday morning, ac
cording to information received
here by relatives. Mrs. Patton was
about 32 years of age. A number of
relatives live in this section.
M<v*ons To Elect
Officers Tonight
The annual convocation for the
election of officers of the Royal
Arch Masons will be held at the
temple tonight. All companions are
urged and expected to be present.
New Hoover Cabinet Posed for First Picture
DAVIS LAMONT HYDE
BROWN GOOD KELLOGG
This being the first time Hoover and his Cabinet have got
ten together, they posed before their initial meeting and
here is the result. Vice-President Curtis also is in the gath
CURTIS
HOOVER
WILBUR MITCHELL
MELLON ADAMS
ering. The only member absent is Stimson, Kellogg holding
over until he arrives.
< International Newsreel Photo)
Mayor Taking No
Part In Changing
Of Town’s Charter
Thinks Charter Should Be Thor
oughly Modernized When
Change Is Made.
Mayor W. N. Dorsey set himself
straight today as to his personal
activities in connection with pro
posed changes in the city charter.
"The impression seems to pre
vail” he said in a statement, "that
the second charter bill sent to Ra
leigh was some of my work. It was
not. As mayor it is my duty to en
force the charter provisions and to
carry out the minutes of the muni
cipal board meetings, but the mak
ing of the charter and ordinances,
and the creating of orders on the
city minutes are the duties of the
aldermen. The only thing I have
had to do with the charter chang
ing movement, either for or against,
was the forwarding of a wire td
Mr. Mull protesting the first bill
sent to him because in my opinion
the aldermen should have been
consulted about changes in the
city government, and because I be
lieve that when the charter is
changed it should be thoroughly
modernized and not halfway done.
I don't think that the charter can
be properly adjusted to modem
conditions by hasty action during
the closing days of legislature and
it should be done right when it is
done. As for me. the old-time char
ter and the old-time religion are
good enough.
Citizens’ Opinion.
"My idea is that when the char
ter is changed that a mass meeting
of the citizens should be held so
that they may express their opin
ions as to what they want. If the
bill does not get up before the
present legislature adjourns I think
that is the way to go about it. Con
sult the people, get everything fix
ed right and then make the
changes.
iso liana in 11.
“Because both charter bills pro
pose changes in the mayor's sal
ary, I think it should be clearly
understood that X had no hand in
the second charter bill sent down.
I did listen in as the aldermen and
Mr. Burrus, the city attorney, dis
cussed the charter. and I heard
them outline some of the changes
they desired in the charter. But
while they were meeting to out
line their charter bill I went home
to dinner and saw no more of the
proposed changes until a copy of
the bill was published in The Star
that afternoon. It isn't the business
of the mayor to help make the laws
and charter proposals. That’s the
duty of the aldermen, and the
mayor’s business is to simply carry
out what they outline, in the char
ter or at board meetings. Parti
cularly is it none of my business
to butt in and express my desires
when the proposals have something
to do with the mayor’s salary. The
fixing of this salary is up to the
board and the people. If the salary
is not what I want it to be. there
is no law to make me serve unless
I want to, and the same applies, of
(Continued on page ten.)
Shelby High Quint Goes To
Semi-Finals Of Cage Tourney
Before Losing To Raleigh High
Local Team Goes Down By Only
One Point To Last
Year Champions.
Casey Morris’ Shelby high bas
keteers were quite a sensation in
the State college basketball tourna
ment until they were eliminated in
the semi-final round Saturday
morning at Raleigh by the Raleigh
high five, winners of the tourna
ment last year.
The local quint lost to Raleigh
by only one point, 17-16.
Prior to being defeated by Ra
leigh the Shelby quint swamped
New Bern 32 to 5 and then trounc
ed Bakersville 15 to 13.
The diminutive Zeno Wall. Shel
by's leading point scorer hi the
tourney and "Milky Gold, due to
the fact that he has captured
three famous Shelby athletic teams,
were big attractions to the crowds
witnessing the games in the Slatq
college gymnasium.
How They Scored.
The Raleigh News and Observer
sport writer had the following to)
say of Shelby's games with New
Bern and Bakersville:
Casey Morris produced two stars
in Captain Gold and Zeno Wall as
the team from Shelby, Governor
Gardner’s home, smashed through
for a one-sided 35-5 victory over
Senator Simmons' boys from New
Bern. The game was never in doubt,
the Morrismen leading 18-2 at half
time. Gold caged 8 points while
Wall, his running mate at forward j
shot 10. Gold, a thee-letter, three
shot 10. Gold, a three-letter, three
taking over the pivot duties.
Shelby Stays In.
Shelby defeated Bakersville in an
other low-scoring game in the
quarter-finals of Class A, counting i
a 15-13 win after holding the small
end of a 5-4 count at half-time.
Wall, with' six points, topped the
winners and Greene had seven to
lead Bakersville.
Bakersville (13) Shelby (13)
Willis (5) ..- Wall <6>
Stanley ... Gold 12)
Greene (7) . Eskridge
Baker (1) ..Bridges (2)
Silver -.-.- Lee (2)
Substitutions — Shelby: Rippy,
Poston (4). Referee, Doak (Guil
ford.)
The Ra'eigh Game.
A last minute field goal by Moody
Smith, forward, kept Raleigh's de
fending champion in the class A
running and defeated Shelby 17-16.
i in the semi-finals of class A. Shel
by held a 16-15 lead when Snfltn,
| who counted 11 points for high
| honors of the game, dropped in his
victory shot.
Raleigh trailed by five points as
the second half got under way.
Casey Morris’ boys from Cleveland
county held,a 13-8 advantage at the,
turn.
I The Morsons showed vast im
provement in the third period, in
which Shelby was held scoreless.
| Milky Gold, all-around Shelby ath-,
jlete, shared with Poster, lending'
honors fo>* the Clevelanders.
Line-ups:
Raleigh (17) Shelby (16)
Rogers <1> .Wall (2)
Smith (11) .Gold (5)
Duke .......„ Poston (6)
Nelms (2) —.. Bridges
Roberts (2) .. Lee (3)
Substitutions: Raleigh, Rand (1).
Shelby none.
Referee: Drenan (Springfield).
Rouse Will Build
Fire Proof Stores
Weathers And Blanton To Erect
Fireproof Store Building
Here.
R. N. Rouse and company, newly
formed contracting firm which has
finished the new .Hotel Charles and
set up offices here, w'lll supervise
the work of constructing the two
story f reproof building for Lee B.
Weathers and George Blanton on
the south side of the Masonic
building.
The building will be 32 feet two
inches wide by 100 feet deep, two
stories high with basement. The
ground floor will have two store
rooms. The building will be steam
heated and built of steel, concrete
and brick with no wood whatever
except the doors and one finish
floor.
Excavation Is now underway and
material is being ordered. The
building will not be tied into the
Masonic building, but set on Its
own weight, although the owners
have rights to join the Masonic
wall, the foundation of which ex
tends to a depth of eight feet in
the ground. The foundation wall of
the Masonic building is two feet
thick by eight feet deep and where
the seven Masonic piers are. the
foundation is larger, each one of
which is capable of supporting 96
tons.
The safety of the Masonic wall
has been approved by two archi
tects, the city nnd state building
inspectors, the building committee
of the Masons and a number of
contractors.
This new building when com
pleted will be the second fireproof
building In Shelby.
Rotary Will Meet
At Hotel Charles
Hereafter the weekly luncheons
of the Shelby Rotary club will be
held at the Hotel Charles dining
room, it Is announced. The change
was made from the Piedmont cafe
dining room, it is stated, due to the
fact that the space there was not
quite large enough to accommo
date the growing club.
New* members of the club are
Charlie Hubbard of the Chickasaw
Thread company; Grady Lovelace,
of the Lutz <& Jackson funeral
home; and S. M. Gault, of the Sou
thern Telephone ccnipany.
Fire Chief Chases
Flaming Car Down
Business Streets
IlM root Race With Burning
Automobile Of Dr. Houser
Saturday Night,
City Fire Chief Ted Gordon has
more than one method of doing
business in his fire-fighting reper
toire, and one Is to run the fire
down even when he has to do it
on his own feet instead of from
the seat of one of the big red
trucks.
Saturday night when Dr. E. A.
Houser, local physician, eased his
car to a standstill at the traffic
light at the Central Methodist
church corner a motorist Just be
hind him noticed that the physi
cian's car was on fire. Then the
traffic light changed to the green
"go" signal and Dr. Houser sped on
out Marion street by the city hall.
Chief Gordon, standing in front of
the fire station, noticed the flames,
thought to himself that Dr. Houser
would have to stop at the traffic
signal at the next corner, and then
grabbed a fire extinguisher in his
hand and "lit out" on his feet aft
er the burning car. But before the
chief and his extinguisher could
get to the next corner the traffic
light had changed a pain and Dr.
Houser had turned the corner and
was going down LaFayette street,
the flames spreading more and
more about the car all the time
and the driver not aware that there
was a blaze.
Speedy ns he was Chief Gordon
was not quite fast enough to com
pete with the physician's high
powered coupe and the car had
reached the traffic lights at the
Hotel Charles corner before pedes
trians yelled at the physician to
stop as his car was on fire. By that
time the fire, which started, it is
said, from a short circuit in some
wires, had burned the wiring and
connections all over the motor.
“I thought he would stop at. the
Woolworth corner where his office
is, or I Would have used one of the
trucks to catch him instead of tak
ing out on my feet,” the fire chief
declared after liis speedy dash
afoot.
Negro Youth Placed
Under Heavy Bond
In Shooting Affair
IDick Jolley, young colored man,
was placed under a $2,000 bond to
superior court at the morning ses
| sion of county court here today for
j shooting and wounding two other
j colored boys last Wednesday. The
bond was given.
Jolley, it will be recalled, shot
three times at Leo Abrams last
Wednesday about noon near the
colored school buifding, one bullet
striking Abrams in the leg while
another of the bullets, going wild,
I struck Alvin Hoskins, colored school
boy, in the leg. Jolley told officers
1 that Abrams had threatened him.
I __________ .
(MORE LOCAL AND SHELBY
NEWS IOVND ON PAGE Tt!W.)
Monazite Industry
Dead Unless A New
Use Found For It
Much Interest In
Complaint Meeting
About I*ight Rates
Promoters Are Inviting All Shrlby
Merchants To Attend Meet
in* Tuesday.
Unusual interest is manifest in
the meeting of the Shelby mer
chants, to be held at the court
house tomorrow morning at nine
thirty o'clock. to probe Into tire
question of the water and light
rates of city.
Promoters of the meeting are in
viting every merchant in the city to
be present. And it is emphasized
the meeting will be an open one.
with free discussions or the vexed
question Invited.
The plan is, to have the question
as thoroughly threshed out as pos
sible. and to outline a proposal
armed with which a Apeclally ap
pointed committee will watt upon
the mayor and city council, to seek
relief, it Is announced.
Hear Radio Over
Telephones Here,
And Vice Versa
Radio Fans Tune In On tang
Distance Telephone Calls. Op
erator Hears Radio.
ir your bootlegger Happens to live
out of town, be particular when you
call hint up on the telephone for
some local radio fan may hear you
talking to him.
And If married women and men
hereabouts have sweeties out of
town whom they telephone occa
sionally. they cannot be sure but
what some Shelby man or woman
listening in on their radio hear
every one of the sweet words.
Believe it or not, but it's true.
In fact, such peculiar things have
happened In connection with radios
and telephones hereabouts lately
that the average man may come
to believe that the Inventors who
gave us radio and telephone may
know no more about the limitations
or the scope of their inventions
than Thomas Edison knows about
electricity. And Mr. Edison, who
has done a little bit of everything
with electricity, readily admits that
he doesn't even know what elec
tricity is.
Here's The Yarn.
Just a few days back a Shelby
lady was turning her set ip on WBT
station at Charlotte one afternoon
when she heard the following
words: “Long distance, I want Con
cord." Then came other words:
“This is Concord.” and so on. In a
few minutes the voice faded away
and the radio program came in
strong.
The lady had been hearing a long
distance telephone call on her
radio. Wlierher tlje call was be
ing made from Shelby to Concord,
or from some other town to Con
cord, perhaps Charlotte, sha does
not know and perhaps will never
now'.
Since that time other Shelby
radio fans have told of hearing
snatches of telephone conversation
mixed In now and then with their
radio programs.
operators.
At the exchange here of the
Southern Bell Telephone company
the long-distance “hello girls" In
form The Star that right often
they hear radio programs over the
telephone wires. Which means that
radio may be heard by telephone
as well as telephone calls can be
heard over radio.
"Right often,” says one of the
long-distance operators at the local
telephone exchange, “we hear short
bits of radio programs from some
j station but we have never been able
1 to tell what station. It Just comes
! in a few words at a time, and then
fades away as mysteriously as it
came in through the receiver."
So. it may be Chat some of these
nights when you’re trying to tunc
in on Moran and Mack that you’ll
hear instead some Shelby swain
calling his girl at Charlotte over
tlie telephone and asking lor a date.
How come? Well, that’s up to
some of the experts.
Charlotte To Play
Shelby In Baseball
The Shelby high baseball team,
out after another* state title, will
give the strong Charlotte team their
first home game of the season on
March 26, two weeks from tomor
row. Baseball training at the high
school here will get underway this
week. Charlotte comes here for a
return game on April IS.
President Of Weishback Company
Says Ho rtt Letter. Duty Would
Not Help.
The monasite industry is dead in
I he Carolina* unless a new use is
found for monasite and monasite
products, according to Sidney Ma
son, president of. the. Walshbaek
company, one of the largeat of all
monasite manufacturers.
Mr. Mason's statement is contain
ed in a letter to a prominent Shel
by man, who was closely connected
with the mining industry here in
the old days.
Tariff No Good.
Mr. Mason likewise makes it
plain that in his opinion an im
port duty on monasite coming in
to this country could not under any
circumstances revive the North
Carolina Industry as the demand for
monazite products is very small as
the use of gas mantle has been
practically discontinued.
New ln(otmii«n.
Continuing Mr. Mason gives
some information not heretofore
made public In this section since
the discussion about reviving the
monazlte industry was started. This
Information Is that there Is very
little monazlte mining going on
anywhere now, even in Brasil or
India, as the world wide demand for
monazlte and produets is only a
bout one-tenth what It was 19 years
ago.
Concluding his letter the Welsh
back official writes: “Why dont
you set the editor of vour paper
straight by handing him the letters
I have written you on this subject?
It seems unfair that the good peo
ple of North Carolina should have
their hopes raised without a shadow
of realization."
He also mentions that he was
visited by Messrs. H. Clay Cox and
Fred Hamrick and that he Inform
ed them that the Welshbaek com
pany would be pleased to see the
industry revived here as his com
pany has quite a bit of mineral
acreage lero which it would be "de
lighted’ to dispose of "even at a
low price.”
letter Quoted
Portions of his letter are quoted
below: “I likewise told them very
frankly it was my opinion that an
import duty on mcnazite could not
(Continued on page ten>
Youth Signs Name
Of Surgeon On Back
Of $20 Check Here
Morganton Young Man Bound To
Superior Court At Hear
ing Today.
Ernest. Butler, young white man
who lives near Morgantcn in
Burke county, was bound over to
superior court unde^a bond erf $500
here today by Recorder Horace
Kennedy on a charge of using the
name of Dr. J. W. Harbison, local
surgeon, as an endorsement on the
back of a $20 check. He was re
turned to Jail, where he had been
since Saturday, when unable to
give the bond.
Butler, it is said, visited the
Cleveland Bank & Trust company
Saturday afternoon, filled out a $20
check on the Bank of Morganton
and then wrote Dr. Harbison's
name as an endorser on the back
of the check. Although he had with
him a note from Dr. Haiblson. who
came from his section of Burke
county, identifying him as Ernest
Butler the bank teller became sus
picious and called an officer. After
Butler was arrested Police Chief
Poston telephoned the surgeon at
the Shelby hospital, and Dr. Har
bison declared that he had written
the note to identify the young man
but had not intended it as an en
dorsement, neither had he author
ized Butler to sign his name on the
back of the check. It appeared to
officers as if Butler in writing Dr.
Harbison's name on the back of
the check had attempted to make
the signature conform with the
signature of the surgeon on the
note of identification. The youth
protested that he had not intend
ed to forge the name but thought
he could write it on the back of the
check since he had the note of
identification.
| Eastern Star Will
Name New Officer*
The local chapter of the Eastern
| star will elect new officers at *
meeting to be held Tuesday at
i 7:30 in the Masonic temple. All
'members arc urged to be present. .