16 PAGES
TODAY
VOL. XXXV, No. 01 THE CLEVELAND STAR
SHELBY, N. C. FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 1929.
Published Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Afternoons
By mail, per year (In advance) 92.50
Carrier, per year (in advance) 93.00
LATENEWS
The Markets.
Shelby, spot cotton ......__ 20c
Cotton Seed, bu. ............ 70Jic
Saturday Fair.
Today’s North Carolina Weather
Report: Rain and colder tonight.
Saturday lair and colder.
More For Governor.
The State Senate yesterday voted '
to raise the salary of the Gover- j
nor of North Carolina to $10,000 a
year. Under the constitution the
measure will not take effect until
1932. Governor Gardner draws $6,
500 annually.
Town Covered,
Water Rising,
At Elba, Ala.
Late news dispatches com
ing to The Star just after
noon today indicated that a
great portion, if not all, of
the inhabitants of Elba, Ala
bama, a town of 4,000 people,
may be drowned due to flood
waters from the recent rains.
At 10:30 today the Nation
al Guard encampment at Big
Creek, near Elba, reported
that George Bornum, a line
man, perched in a tree a half
mile from Elba, and the near
est of rescue parties to the
flooded town, stated that the
water was still rising and that
he could barely see the tops of
some of the houses and that
many had been washed away.
Thirty-seven people were res
cued from a house near Elba,
but communication or rescue
attempts cannot be made with
the town covered in water and
since the rising water had
driven 350 school children to
the second floor of the school
late yesterday, according to
dispatches, it is feared that
the entire population may be
Irowned.
Town Of 4,000 Is
Flooded By Rains
On« Pew* Felt For Elba, Ala
bama, Water 10 Fe*| la
Streets,
Troy, Ala., March 14.—Grave
fbars were felt tonight for the saf
ety of the 4,000 Inhabitants of Elba,
Ala., 32 miles south of here, who
were cut off from all communica
tion late today by flood water of
Pea river and White Water creek
that rose suddenly to block all
means of egress.
Urgent appeals for help were re
ceived from the stricken town
shortly before telegraph and tele
phone communication was broken,
presumably by Tiding waters that
flooded offices.
Scores of lives were endangered
unless boats reached the town by
' midnight, A. E. Lee of Enterprise,
informed local relief workers. Lee
said his last reports were-that wa
ter flowed through the streets of
Elba up to a depth of 10 feet in
midafternoon and was still rising
steadily as the torrents came down
from the water sheds of Pea river
and White Water. Rains that
poured throughout last night con
tinued unabated here tonight add
ing to the torrents feeding creeks
and livers throughout the section.
Mountain Streams
Rising With Rain
French Broad And Swannanona At
High Peak; Grave )
Fears Are Felt.
Asheville, March 14.—The peril
of devastating floods confronted all
western North Carolina today as
mountain streams and rivers, swol
len by torrential rains of the past
24 hours, threatened to burst from
their banks.
More rain was predicted for
Thursday night and Friday morn
ing. Reports from Burnsville, Mar
lon, Bryson City, Sylvia, Ruther
fordton, Brevard, Hendersonville
and Marshall told of heavy rain
fall with streams and rivers out of
banks in many places; while the
Asheville gauging station of the
French Broad river showed it to be
1.8 feet above flood stage and still
rising. Little damage had been re
ported Thursday noon as the re
sult of high water.
Mr*. Suttle To Be
A Reunion Sponsor
Mrs. Oscar M. Suttle has been
notified by her uncle, Capt. S. B.
Wats, of Jackson, Miss., that he
has named her as sponsor for the
First Brigade, Mississippi Division,
of Confederate veterans for the
United Confederate reunion tp be
held in Charlotte June 4-7. Capt.
Watts has visited the Buttles in
Shelby and will be remember! d
here by many citizens.
Vote On Bonds
For School Is
Not Likely Soon
Bill To Call Election For Bond
Issue Has Been Passed.
Summer Election.
The voters of the Shelby special
school district No. 33 will not likely
vote'upon the proposed bond issue
to cover a debt of 50-odd thousand
dollars before mid-summer, it is
generally believed here.
Some weeks back a legislative bi.l
providing for the bond issue, or
rather the calling of a special elec
tion to determine whether or not
citizens favored issuing the bonds,
was prepared and forwarded to
Representative Odus M. Mull at Ra
leigh. Since being received by him
it has been introduced and ratified
by both departments of the legis
lature.
After Election.
The bill provides that the city
aldermen may call the election at
any date they see fit, and the gen
eral opinion now is that the special
bond issue election will not be held
prior to mid-summer, or until the
municipal election is over as the
two elections held along about the
same time might bring on conflicts.
The bill, it will be remembered,
provides that bonds to cover the
present indebtedness may be issued,
if the election carries, but that none
of the bond money is to be for
maintenance or any purposes what
soever other than payment of the
school debt which already exists.
Shelby Baseball
Team Has Twelve
Games On Schedule
More Games Likely To Be Played
Before State Champ
Series Opens.
Casey Morris, who has already
brought one state baseball title to
Shelby and has made string bids
upon other occasions, is following
his usual style in-training the high
team for another title series. Which
is to say that Morris believes that
his youths can learn more baseball
in actual games than by ordinary
field practice.
With that in view he already has
12 games scheduled before the state
series starts and is looking for
more, according to Ralph Gardner,
team manager.
, Six Are Here.
Six of the twelve games on the
tentative schedule will be played in
Shelby. The first game will be
played here today week with Cher
ryville furnishing the opposition.
The pre-series schedule follows:
March 21—Belmont Abbey, there
March 26—Charlotte, there
March 29—Kings Mountain, there
April 2—Cherryville, there
April 5—Gastonia, there
April 9—Forest City, here
April 12—Kings Mountain, there
April 19—Charlotte, here
April 23—Forest City, there
April 24—Belmont Abbey, here."
April 26—Gastonia, there.
Nine People Die In
A Tornado In S. C.
Storm Lasting For Only Half Min
ute Demolishes Five
Houses There.
Greenville, S. C., March. 14.—In a
steady downpour of rain and with
a fairly high wind prevailing, the
surviving citizens of Six Mile, vil
lage of 200 inhabitants in Pickens
county, today, counted as a toll of
last night's tornado nine deafi and
half a dozen seriously injured.
Five houses in the little com
munity, which today was cut off
from telephone communication witn
the outside world, were demolished
by the storm which struck at about
8:30 and lasted but half a minute,
according to residents. Lightning
and thunder accompanied the wind.
List Of Dead.
The dead were reported as Dep
uty Sheriff and Mrs. G. Nelse Gar
rett, their sons, J. C. Garrett, 18,
and Edward, 0. and their daughter,
Bertie, 11; Mrs. B. Tillman Garrett
and three daughters. Mildred. 14,
Lucia, 12, and another daughter,
ged seven.
Doctors, newspaperemen and
thers who were trying to reach
he scene of the storm found roads
i very bad condition today and
rere having difficulty in reaching
lix Miles.
Club Leaders Attend.
Mrs. Irma P. Wallace, county
gent, and the leaders of the home
iemonstration clubs of Cleveland
ounty will go to Gastonia Satur
ay to attend an all day school of
tiillinery. The instruction is to be
iven by Miss Willie Hunter, state
lothing specialist.
First Photo of Speed Wreck
Photo shows close-up of the wrecked “Triplex” racing:
machine, owned by J. W. White, American, who had hoped
to break the record set by Captain Segrave, British speed
king. The machine was crashed Wednesday on Daytona
1 ch by Lee Bible, race driver, while traveling at a rate
of 202 miles per hour. At the same time a newsreel cam
eraman, 'fharles Traub, was killed by tho machine, which
spun into him.—Photo by International Newsreel.
r
Bible And Cameraman Killed
In Attempt To Break Speed
Record Made By Segrave Car
Big Racer Crashes. At Terrific
Speed. Driver Rose To
Fame, And Death.
Ocean Speedway, Daytona Beach,
Fla.—Lee Bible, 42-year-old Day
tona Beach garage mechanic, rode
to a spectacular death Wednesday
when the 36-cylinder racing car,
with which he was attempting to
break the world’s speed record of
p31 miles an hour, went out of con
trol and crashed into the sand
dunes, striking and killing outright
Charles Traub, a news reel camera
man.
The accident, which was one of
the most gruesome in the history of
beach racing here, occurred im
mediately after Bible had crossed
the measured mile course at a
speed of 202 miles an hour. It was
witnessed by a crowd of approxi
mately 20,000 spectators, who lined
sand dunes for miles.
Dissapears Into Haze.
Roaring over the course at such e
terrific speed, the car, quickly dis
appeared in a haze than hung over
the beach, and those who sat in
the grandstand, a mile away, were
unable to see just how the accident
happened.
Eye-witnesses, who were standing
on the dunes at the end of the mile,
declared Bible attempted td run too
far out on the course near the surf.
They said the driver, evidently be
lieving that the car would run into
the ocean, lifted his foot too quick
ly from the accelerator. With the
power shut off so suddenly at that
speed, the car started to swerve
from the course.
witnesses b«uu x»iw*c
slammed on his brakes and at
tempted to swing the machine back
into control, but in doing so, turn
ed the steering wheel too far. The
machine went out of control, spun
around twice on the beach and
turned over. It bounced high into
the air, going into a barrel roll,
and smashed into the dunes with a
terrific impact. Traub, who was
standing on the beach taking pic
tures of the race, attempted to get
out of the way, but - the car was
traveling too fast.
Traub was struck squarely by the
speeding car just before it crashed
into the dunes. Part of his body was
hurled on top of the dunes, while
the rest of it was strewn down the
sand for 300 yards.
While the car was turning over,
and just before it struck the dune/,
Bible’s body was hurled from the
machine onto the beach. Witnesses
said he attempted to sit up, gasped,
and fell back on the sand, dead.
Overalls To Fame.
Daytona' Beach, Fla.—Lee Bible
Carefree Jack of all trades. Wednes
day had stepped out of the grimy
overalls of a garage owner-mechanic
into the ranks of the world’s fast
est racing car drivers.
The 42-year-old mechanic given
the golden opportunity of a life
time to use his own words, as the
driver of the Triplex, powerful rac
ing car of J. M. .White of Phila
delphia, and he expected to wresc
from Major H. O. D. Segrave, of
England, the title of speed king of
the automobile world.
Georgraphy Studied
By Letters Between
School Pupils Now
Shelby Children Get Request From
Sooth Dakota For To
bacco Leaves.
There Is more tfcan one method
of studying geography, and, few that
matter, grammar and letter-writing
as yell.
South Dakota school children may
read in their geographies that to
bacco and cotton are raised In
North Carolina, and Shelby school
children may read in the same
geography book that it is cold as
the duce in the Dakotas in the win
ter time, but students of either
state may not be particularly im
pressed about what they read about
the other state.
Odd Requests.
Of recent years some school In
structor apparently started a worth
while movement among the school
children of America, the movement
being that of correspondence be
tween school children of far re
moved states in which they discuss
what they study.
As an example, the superintend
ent of the Shelby schools re
ceived a letter recently from Al
len Smith, a school child of Ka
doka, in which the youngster
wrote: “We are writing to see if
we could please get some tobacco
leaves. We would like to have
some tobacco seed to plant. We
shall be glad, in return, to give any
information about our state which
you might wish to have.”
The letter will be answered by all
the children at the Shelby school
who are in the same grade a3 is
Allen in Kadoka, and the teacher
will pick out the best letter and
send the Dakota boy telling him
that tobacco is not produced in this
section of the state.
A Maine Letter.
Another letter coming to tne
seventh grade pupils of Shelby was
from William Porter, of Rockland,
Maine, and reads, in part, as fol
lows: “First of all I will tell you
about Maine. The northern part is
a laige forest where men go and
chop down the wood. We have
very large paper mills. The city
in which I live is situated on a bay
called Penobscot. We have the only
cement company in New England.
I live right near the ocean and
watch the boats. Most of the boats
are barges carrying coal and lime.
Rockland is called the lime city be
cause it has more lime than any
city in the world.”
Who would say that Shelby
school children reading that letter
would not be more impressed with
geographical Maine than by their
study of geography? And meantime
the two work together as local stu
dents are given a better general
knowledge of the worth of geo
graphical knowledge by the letters
which they send in reply to those
from the Dakotas, Maine and else
where.
Dozen of such letters come to
and are answered by Shelby school
children each year. :
Parent-Teachers
Meeting Tonight
Meeting To Discuss Extension Of
School Term Here
This Year.
At tH6 rtieeting of the Shelby
Parent-Teachers association to be
held tonight at 7:30 In the Cen
tral school auditorium the proposi
tion of continuing the city schools
for the extra month this year will
be discussed, it is announced.
The meeting is to be presided
over by Mrs. Rush Thompson, and
the program will include musical
selections under the supervision of
Prof. W. T. Sinclair, and readings
by Miss Browne.
“Pupil Control” in the school will
be discussed by E. O. McGowan,
and in the home by 8upf. I. c.
Griffin. Prof. Columbus Andrews,
high school principal, will discuss
some of the rules and regulations
governing attendance, and there
will be a round table discussion of
extending the school term.
All parents and school patrons
Interested in the welfare of the
school are urged to attend.
Shelby Boys Making
Bids For 3 Outfits
In College Baseball
Tommy Kerr , Melvin Peeler, And
Ralph Gillespie In
College Ball.
Former Shelby high baseball
players may be seen in action this
spring with at least three North
Carolina college baseball teams.
And, oddly enough, two of the
three, Tommy Kerr and Melvin
Peeler, were winners in their high
school days of the highest awards
tendered boys at Shelby high—the
silver cup for the best all-around
boy.
At State college, Tommy Kerr Is
one of the two strongest contenders
for the second base berth. In high
school his last , year here Tom
my captained the team and was a
popular athlete. He also played
quarter an the football eleven.
Peeler, who is the most dependable
right-hand hurler at Duke univer
sity, was a pitcher and an outfielder
here and a member of Shelby’s
state championship team. At Wake
Forest, Ralph Gillespie, who was
named All-State catcher while with
Shelby high, is considered the best
bet for the receiving duties of the
Baptist nine.
Peeler, incidentally, is being
coached by Jack Coombs, once a
famous pitcher in the American
league,
Thompsons Moving
Into New Residence
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Thompson are
moving this week into their hand
some new home in the Thompson
Lineberger development near the
Cleveland Springs Estates. The
residence is two stories high and
very modern in every particular.
Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Lineberger who
are building a new residence nearby
will complete it in the spring.
Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Washburn
will move into the Andrew Miller
brick bungalow on the Cleveland
Springs road.
Hamrick Tells
More Facts Of
Monazite Hope
No Monazite Mined In Florida In
18 Months, He Says. Demand
Decreases,
Supporters of a movement to place
a duty on foreign monazite with the
hope of restoring the monazite In
dustry here are still of the opinion
that If a tariff is placed on foreign
monazite that eventually mining of
monazite may be resumed in the
Carolinas.
This hope is based upon the idea
that when monazite sands now in
stock, of which there Is quite a
quantity according to a letter of a
prominent monazite manufacturer
published in The Star recently, are
deplenished that the demand for
monazite sand will be renewed and
with the tariff keeping foreign mon
azite out the mining may be resum
ed here. •
Such at least Is the opinion of
Mr. Fred D. Hamrick, Rutherford
ton attorney, who visited Washing
ton in the Interest of a monazitc
tariff. In a letter to The Star Mr.
Hamrick says:
"I have read with a great deal
of interest your last article in The
Star on the fact that the monazite
industry is dead until there can be
new uses discovered for the same,
and while reading it was reminded
of the interest that some people
were taking to assure our people
that it could never be revived. I was
especially interested in the inter
view' or news item given out (I
presume unsolicited) by a Sir. Walk
er of Raleigh that monazite sand
was being mined so cheaply in Flor
ida that if tire same were placed on
the protected list that it could nev
er be mined profitably to our people
in this section. On arriving in Wash
ington (the day after the publica
tion of tliis interview) we went to
the bureau of mines and mining in
uie department or commerce and
from the head of this department
and an investigation of tire records
ascertained tliat tlitre had been no
monazite mined in Florida for
eighteen months and when the same
was mined it was a by-product of
other mining and amounted to prac
tically nothing and could not inter
fere -with the mining of monazite in
this vicinity if properly protected.
“We also went to Gloucester, New
Jersey, to see Mr. Mason of the
Welsbach company and he told me
there was no monazite market now.
That shipload afty shipload of In
dian and Brazilian sand had been
brought to this country and that
there were large stores of the same
in London, England, and in France
and that on account of same that
(Continued on page fourteen.)
* --
Revival In April
At LaFayette Street
Revival services at the Lafayette
Street Methodist church will begin
on the first Sunday in April, it is
announced by Rev. T. B. Johnson,
the pastor. Rev. N. C. Williams, of
Charlotte, will do the preaching, A
cordial invitation is extended to all
other churches of the city and to
the public to attend.
State School Bill
Will Hurt Schools
Of Cleveland County
City Charter Bill
Before Legislature,
May Be Up Too Late
Session May Adjourn Before Local
Bill is Reached On
Calendar.
The bill ‘ to amend the charter
of the Town of Shelby,” among
other changes being the substitu
tion of ‘city’ for •town', was intro
duced in the house Monday at Ra
leigh by Representative Mull as
house bill 1996.
The particular bill introduced wras
the last one forwarded to Raleigh,
being drawn by the city fathers and
differing very little from the first
bill sent down by a group of citi
zens headed by Mr. T. W. Ham
rick. /
Same Voting Plan.
Although the bill has been in
troduced there Is some doubt about
It passing at this session as local
bills In the last minute rush must
take tire loot of the calendar, and,
therefore, the Shelby charter bill
may be among the unfinlhed busi
ness when legislature adjourns next
week, perhaps Tuesday or Wednes
day. If the charter Us not changed
by the present legislature it means
that the coming municipal election
will be held as heretofore—on Mon
dy with the winning candidate, if
there be more than two, lor mayor
not being required to have a ma
jority vote.
Suit Of Vandyke
Against Officers
Comes Next Week
$50,000 Damage Salt Against Five
Officers To Be In Gen
eral Court.
The $50,000 damage suit of John
L. Vandyke against five Cleveland
county officers, which has been on
and off the court books here for
several years. Is scheduled to come
up next Wednesday In the Federal
court session here.
Three or four years ago a still
was found near Vandyke's home be
low Kings Mountain and near the
South Carolina line. An\ong the
officers participating in the arrest
were Police Chief Irvin Allen and
Policeman McBride Poston and
Oreel Ware, of Kings Mountain,
and Deputy Bob Kendrick, of Shel
by. After being arrested the elder
ly Vandyke was .placed in Jail here,
where he remained for less than
an hour, it is said, before he was
able to secure bond. Not long
thereafter he started a suit in Su
perior court charging the four of
ficers named above and Sheriff
Hugh Logan with false imprison
ment, or not being given proper
opportunity to secure bond before
being Jailed.
Took Non-Suit.
After tlie suit had remained on
the Superior court calendar for
some time Vandyqe took a non
suit, moved to South Carolina and
then filed the suit in Federal court.
Charlotte dispatches stated today
that Miss Fan Barnett, deputy
clerk of Federal court, had stated
there that the suit would come up
here next week.
Officers named Dy vanayse, wuu
Is a familiar figure about the court
room here, declare that when ar
rested he was given every possible
chance to secure bond before oe
ing jailed. At Kings Mountain be
fore being brought here the of
ficers there say that they took Van
dyke to see three people for the
purpose of securing bond, and fail
ing to do so they brought him on
to jail by Deputy Kendrick, and
after giving Vandyke his supper,
Sheriff Logan says that he at Van
dyke's request called up a Shelby
citizen about bond and then helped
prepare the bond papers so that
Vandyke was released in an hour
or less after being brought to the
jail.
Ill Luck Follows
W. F. Wilson Family
111 luck seems to have come in a
short space of time to the family of
W. P. Wilson of West Marion
street. Mrs. Wilson is now a patient
in the hospital suffering with a
kidney trouble which may necessi
tate an operation. Her sickness fol
lows the death last year of a
daughter, Mrs. Bessie Joiner, the
breaking of a leg of a son, Ab Wil
son who lives in South Carolina
and the rheumatic condition of Mr.
Wilson himself who can't get aboutl
without crutches. J
Patterson, Earl And Other Schools
May Have Teachers
Cut Down.
The Hancock school bill, which
bids .fair to be the school legisla
tion of the present general assemb
ly, may prove a costly economy to
the future of Cleveland county
schools in the, opinion 0/ J. H.
Grigg, county superintendent of
schools here.
The provisions of the bill have
been thoroughly studied by Mr.
Grlgg and the talked-of economy
features of the bill may prove to be
easily educational economy to some
counties of the state, in his opin
ion, and among them Cleveland
county.
To Lose Teachers.
The school bill as It reads now
cause such schools as Patterson.
Etui, Boiling Springs and others to
lose one tencher when they do not
have what Is considered, according
to attendance, enough teachers now
to handle the pupils. Furthermore
the county superintendent- points
out that nearly every high school
In the county, under provisos of the
bill, would lose one te&cher and
thereby several, if not all of them,
would be removed from the ac
credited list.
XjOOKing ai me scnooi duj irom
another angle Supt. Grigg is not
so confident that It will prove an
economy. The bill provides a larger
equalization fund, which means
that some of the counties will get
larger appropriations, large .enough
in some instances to materially re*
ducc the county school tax on prop*
erty. but in other Instances there
will be some counties cut off with
smaller appropriations than they
have been receiving heretofore.
Cleveland, It Is intimated, might be
one of those to receive a smaller
appropriation thus bringing little, if
any, economy to the county despite
the decrease in number of teach-#
ers—a decrease, it is pointed out,
that will handicap instruction of
pupils as nearly every school In the
county will have too many pupils
per teacher for good school work.
Grin's Opinion.
At the request of The Star, Supt
Grigg prepared the following opt
ion of how the new school bill, or
equalization measure, may effect
Cleveland county schools:
"The chief purpose of thl Han
cqpk bill, as I understand it, is the
reduction of property taxes in the
various counties. T^ie bill provides
two methods by which this is to
be attained. The first is the pro
vision for an increased equaliza
tion fund; the second is the in
troduction of what is called an
economy program in school admin
istration.
Some Get Leva
"By increasing the equalisation
fund from $3,250,000. to $6,000,000
for the suppon, of the six mouths
term it is thought that the - in
creased amounts thus provided for
the various counties will enable the
counties to reduce the county school
taxes. Taking the state as a whole
this will of course be true* But a
different basis on which the fund
is to be distributed makes it Un
certain as to the amounts the vari
ous counties will receive. Strange
to say it seems that some counties
will not only fail to get & larger
appropriation, but will receive a
smaller amount.
"The intent of tha-bill is that the
increased equalization fund phis a
comity levy of 30c will meet the
(Continued on page fourteen.)
Methodist Leaders
Meet At Cherryville
Cherryville, March H.—District
leaders meeting tor the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, in Gas*
tonla district, which includes Gas
ton, Lincoln and Cleveland coun
ties, was held Tuesday at the First
Methodist church, Cherryville.
Thirty pastors were preaent, 20 lay
leaders, the presiding elder. Rev.
W. A. Newell, of Gastonia, and
prominent connectional representa
tives, Rev. R. M. Courtney, of Con
cord, and Miss Claiborne, represent
ing the bureau of specials, General
Board of Missions of the church.
Hotel Banquet On
At Charles Tonight
The formal opening banquet and
dance of the new Hotel Charles
will be held this evening and to
night. The banquet starts at 7:30
and indications are that It will he
largely attended. The opening
dance will follow the banquet,