f VOL. XXXVIII, No. Wednaeday and Friday Afternoons. 10 PAGES TODAY *__,__, 1!-ASBROKSSm Hy w»u, per r«*i, ita advance) - *j,4j (?«rr »r. i* r yen. (in I Late News THE MARKET Cotton ___ 6.05 to le Cotton wagon seed. tn $10 0* Wanner Saturday Today's North Carolina Weather Report: fair tonight. Saturday in creasing cloudiness and wanner. 2 Fires Today One residence was practically de stroyed. another considerably dam ated and throe others slightly dam aged In two fires here today. At 11:55 the fire trucks were called to fjroad street, South Shelby, where the house occupied by W. L. Brown oas somewhat damaged by a roof aiare. About 1:30 this afternoon a roof fire practically destroyed a house in West Shelby owned by Sam Morrison and occupied by l»hn Green. Two other nearby bouses caught on the roof from the heat but these small blaxes were extinguished. A big portion of the *■reen household belongings was; destroyed, adding to the handicaps already facing the family. Green is at present on the city’s street i i'aning force made up of unem ployed men and he has 10 children and a sick wife. Forests Greatest Natural Rssource In North Carolina Col. .1. W. llarrelson. State Official And Native of County, Re- I views His Department The forest of North Carolina are '-file most valuable natural re sources in North Carolina, declared Col. John W. Harrelson, head of ine department of conservation and development when he spoke last night before the Kiwanis club in weekly luncheon. Native of Cleveland Col. Harrelson who is a native •f the Lawndale section of Clove- ; and county was Introduced bv Hon O. M. Mull. The speaker declared no governor of North Carolina in he past fifty years has had such -stave problems to consider and has Solved’ them as well as Governor Gardner,” said Col. Harrelson who has been close to the governor in '■he past three years of his term Col. Harrelson described the sev jn divisions of his department— chose which look after streams and power, commercial fisheries, geol ogy, commerce and Industry fish tame and forestry. Incidentally hej tated that a tin smelting plaid i will be opened shortly in Lincoln ■ounty and that one firm has spent ’>80,000 prospecting for minerals de- i posits in Western Carolina. Game Costs ?1 Found As a side remark he also stated hat a sportsman spends $1 per pound for the capture of his game. This caused a ripple of laughter ior there were a mlmber of fisner men and hunters in the audience. I Most of Coi, Harrelson’s talk, however, was devoted to forest - hlcH he declares is the most val- ! -.able natural resource in North. Carolina. Said he, “the total value if ail farm crops over a period of five years ending In 1930, a period -hen farm crops were high—is "300.000,000. The timber returns are 363,000.000 or about one-fifth the value of the farm crops returns. He ■•ve comparative figures of North Carolina and Pennsylvania showing he amount each state spends in conservation of the timber supply i>f each state and the value of her iinber resource as well as the by-; ■'products of fish and game. forest fires Forest fires alone in the past 22 • rvrs have caused an annual dam f-ge to timber hr North Carolina of over a million dollars. He related, >ow the conservation of timber racts is not only profitable from 'he standpoint of timber, but that It . tops soil erosion, protects the ume and the fish, etc., and pro motes recreational and profitable employment of office and factory workers during their leisure time, Kiwanis To Give Books To Library A $10 cash donation to the Shel by public library was authorized .ast night by the Kiwanis club and >n next Thursday night each Ki wanis member has been asked to bring two books as a further con tribution to the library. When the ECiwanis club made up' its objec tives to work for during the pres ent year, one which struck popular favor with the club members was to lend assistance to the up-build ing of the library and Its useful ness In the community. Directors Country Club Gather Monday Directors of the Cleveland Springs Country Club will hold their semi , annual meeting Monday evening at 7:S0 at the club house, it was an nounced today by Spurgeon Hewitt, secretary. A11 director* and offic ials are urged to attend. Says Tax Rate Can Be Lowered 50c After Sale Shows Cost Streets, Whiteway, Etc. Revises Some Figures On The Profits ll»djtr\'ity Owner ship. Showing $61,000 Last 13 Months. Supplementing its report to the citizens on the proposed sale of the city's light plant to the Southern Public Utilities Co., issued Jan. 20th, the city council this morning turned oyer to The Star additional information for the taxpayers, bearing on the earnings of the plant, cost of electric power for the city’s use. etc. The statement reads: Editor Cleveland Star: It seems that our report of Jan uary 20, 1932 as to light rates ana comparisons have been greatly mis understood and confused, hence for these reasons the mayor and board of aldermen have gone into the matter more thoroughly and are submitting herewith additional in formation for the consideration of the public. The principal Items about which there seems to be so much misun derstanding is the cost of operation of the whltwway system, street lights and water pumping station. In our previous report we did net go into details as to the cost of these items, but we considered them close enough to the cost for all practical purposes. The informa tion given below in detail repres ents the cost of operating these systems based on the contract fig ures submitted us by the Southern Puhlic Utilities company. We be lieve the figures we are submitting are as nearly correct as it is possi ble for us to get them. Cost of Operating the Whiteway System There are fifty-four (541 whit way lights using 28 K.W. per hour, and operating 10 hours per night and 30 nights per month. Total K.W. consumed per month 54x36x10x30—3400 K.W. The current required for lighting the wliiteway system and the city water puftips will be furnished the city through one meter and at rates specified in proposed contract from S, P. U. Co. The average rate based on the K.W.H. for the year 1931 is 164 cents per K.W.H. which shows a cost per month of 1.64x8400—$138 Whiteway cost per year $138x12— $ 1656.00: Cost of Operating City Water Pumps This item has been in the past < CONTINUED ON PAGE TEN Scout Service At Church Sunday Eve A special Boy Scout service, in observance of national scout week, will be heid at the Shcl by Presbyterian church Sunday afternoon at 5 o’clock. Rev H. N. McDiarrnid will conduct the service and all the Boy Scouts of Shelby and Cleveland coun ty are expected to attend. .Scout committeemen and offi cials and the general public are also invited. Charlotte To Get Democratic Meet If Raleigh Building Is Incomplete New Auditorium At Raleigh May Not Be Ready In lime For Party Gathering. so taking the course. Foxes For Field Trial Here Escape Two of the four foxes which ! Sheriff Irvin Allen planned to use jin a county-wide field trial cnaso escaped this week from the lot at the county jail. Several foxhounds , were freed in the attempt to catch ! them, but the foxes winding their way in and out of chicken lot fences managed to reach the city limits. One was later shot by some youths in the county and the other has not been heard from since. Dover And Ora Mills Have Assistant Super T. T. Lucas has come to Shelby to take the position as assistant superintendent of the Dover and Ora mills. His home is in Charlotte but he has been connected with the Dunnen mills In Greenville for sometime -• ■r -r * * * * r Chinese Hold Before Jap Drive Call To Marines Only Pay Checks I Marine reserve* in Shelby hare not been ordered to re port for active duty, and anoth er war rumor is scotched. Yesterday special deliver, notices from the war depart ment came to two young Shel by men who are in the reserve corps of the Marines and it was reported that the envelopes carried orders and transports Mon for them to report at once at Quantiro or Parris Island, j It was Iranird later in the day • hat the envelopes contained nothing more than the regular pay check for the reserves. Tite report spread quite a bit before being spiked, however, and caused considerable speculation among the younger men, es pecially those enrolled in reserve branches of the service. Hog Killing Delayed In County By Unusual ‘Winterless’ Winter i The exceptionally warm weather of the last three months lias work ed » hardship on the farmers of Cleveland county by delaying hug killtng times or causing a consider able amount of meat to spoil where hogs were killed in warm weather. During what Is normally the win ter season there hasn't been three consecutive days of hog-killing weather," farmers say. As a result a major portion of the county pork ers are still In their pens awaiting slaughter and hundreds of families have not as yet had their annual winter delicacies of new sausage, liver-mush, etc. Quite a number of porkers, how ever. have been killed and In many instances, farmers say. large quan tities of meat were lost due to the warmth. With the waim weather continuing hogs are being killed on where the meat can be used im mediately, and instead of killing three to five hogs at a time, farm families are killing only one. There Is still more than a month or hcg killing season and farmers are hop ing for colder weather during that i flme, at least weather more appro priate for hog-kllllng than ihev have had Weather reports show that the last three months have been the warmest on the average, of anv win ter season during the past 42 years Another Cleveland Man Becomes Lawyer Elbert, Eskridge, .-on of Mr. and Mrs. S. B. Eskridge of the Douhb Shoals community, was another candidate before the supreme court last week to successfully pi s his law examination. Mr. Eskridge and Mr. Edward Buff, sou of Dr. J. T. Buff of Casar were both suece* ful in their examination. Mr. Esk ridge is at present living at kinlrv this state. Romeo Padgett Out And Gone Again Farmer Cleveland Yount Men Makes Another Merklenbnrc Escape. Charlotte. Feb. 5,—Romeo Pad gett, the insouciant in-agatn-out again will-o’-th'-wisp of Mecklen burg county's penal institutions, is out again. Under treatment for tubercular trouble at the Mecklenburg Sana torium Wednesday afternoon, he walked away and did not come back, according to information in the sheriff’s office here. Some were under the belief that he was making his way to a gov ernment hospital in the moun tains. to which he had expressed a desire to go for treatment, Padgett, former Cleveland coun ty boy, has had a checkered ca reer for a number of years In and out of Charlotte. Attaining con siderate acquaintance here as a soda dispenser he went to the navy. Later he was sent to a federal re formatory in Ohio. He was paroled, came back to Charlotte and led an attack on the rural police. He was shot through the lung. He recove ed and was sent to the roads for a long term, made a model prisoner and, within 30 days of his relens> escaped under gun fire He went back to the federal reformatory, escaped, returned to Charlotte and gave himself up to serve the re mainder of his term. He was found to have lung trouble, went to the county hospital for treatment and then escaped. > Officers were searching for him in Mecklenburg today, but they were of the opinion that he was gone for good ' Batch Of News From KingsMtn. lOyater Kupprr By Church. Buffet Supper. Mr*. Herndon Hosted* To D. A. R. — (By E. R. GAMBLE' Kings Mountain, Feb 4—The teachers and officers of the Sun I day school of the First Baptist | church of Kings Mountain held i>n | oyster supper Wednesday night at | the church dining room. Rev A. I | Howell, retired Baptist minister made the principal address Other talks were given by D. F. Horn and J. L. Loden, superintendent of the Sunday school. There were about 30 present. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Level' entertained at a buffet supper at their beautiful new home on Rail road avenue Wednesday night. The rooms were lovely with Jonquils, red cactus and ferns. The guests included Mr. and Mrs. Harold Crawford, Miss Pearl Kerr, Mr; W. G. Bird. Miss Mary McGill and Miss Matilda Dedmon. The Woman's club will serve thei: regular dinner Friday of this week at the new building on Mountain street. Mrs. E. W. Griffin and Mrs Fled Finger spent Thursday in Char lotte. Miss Mane laneberger, teacher in the city schools Is in Lincolnton at the bedside of her sister who Is desperately sick. Shelby-Marion Highway May Be Held Up By Shortage In State Revenue New Highway Construction De pends Almost Entirely I'pon Federal Act. Prospects for building a nev. highway between Shelby and Mar ion, connecting the county seats of Cleveland and McDowell, are gloomy just now unless, federal funds are provided for highway! construction to relieve unemploy - i raent in the various states. Dispatches from Raleigh state that there is little hope of new road buildipg in North Carolina in the year ahead unless through federal funds due to the state's revenue shortage and the subsequent econ omy program. y. Continue Survey Survey work on the proposed route is being continued, however ni4rtV 1W. Seven American Ships Steam In Shanghai Port Balter Chapei Section With Artillery < hinese Troops Manage To Hold *h»P<‘i Vii'lnsi Thrive Many \re Kilted Shanghai, Feh. 5,—One thous and (hinese soldier* have been killed and wounded during the fighting of the last three day* In the devastated (n&pei sec tion ot shanghai, according to the Chinese Red Cross Several hundred wounded are in Chi nese hospitals and others are in hospitals of the ini'>•'nation al settlement. More Protection Shanghai, Fob. 5.—Additional pro tection for United states interest* in the Shanghai territory was as sured today as seven American de stroyers came into the Shanghai port to reinforce U. S. Marines now on duty there, During the day the Japanese ar tillery' continued its fierce bombing attack on the Chapel station, but despite the heavy attack the Chi nese troope clung onto their barri cades in the partially destroyed sec tor of the city. The heavy bombard ment, Chinese officials think, will tie a big drive on the part of the Japs to pu3h the Chinese out The Chapei area was covered in smoke | from the artillery fire end raging ; flames. Mend Army Regulars. Tokyo, Feb. 5.—The Japanese I government yesterday oi dered a full division of the army to Shanghai to ! relieve the 5,000 bluejackets who ! have been fighting it out with the ■ Chinese for a week, i’hey are ex pected to reach Shanghai Saturday. This decision was in line With the j government’s rejection of the item ] of the peoce proposals made by the j United States, Great Britain and 1 Ftance which called upon Japan and I Chino to cease mobilisation and | preparations for iurther hostilities. A lull Japanese army division is composed of two brigades of infan try, a regiment of cavalry, a regi ment of artillery, a battalion of en gineers and a battalion of the army service, corps. The total strength Is about 1-1.000 men. Hitherto all the fighting in Shanghai has been done by Japanese bluejacket? Harbin, Manchuria, Fob 5.—Japa nese troops entered Harbin today '-•CSTWWO O.t FAOL TUN.< Mrs- J. A. Wright Hurt In Collision Has Ribs Broken When Cars Collide On Mncolntoii Road Thursday. Mrs Jolui A. Wright, tvail known (Cleveland county woman, is in the . i Shelby hospital sintering with pain ful injuries received Thursday in an automobile collision. Her husband's automobile and another car, driven by a Mr. Tay lor, salesman for a Louisville, Ken j tucky. firm, collided on the Lincoln j toon highway near the Will Wilson * gin, just east of Shelby. Mrs. Wright, who had several ribs fractured on the right side and was bruised about the body, was the only person in jured. Both cars, however, were | badly damaged. Due to Mrs. Wright's injuries a birthday dinner that was to have been held Sunday at the Wright home has been called off. Mr. Blanton Taken* To Charlotte Hospital Mr. Oeu. Blanton was taken to a Charlotte hospital yesterday where a specialist will set his broken jaw bone. It will be recalled that Mr. Blanton was kicked on the chin by " one of his riding horses about a week ago as he was holding the horse in the barn lot. The swelling in ills jaw lias subsided somewhat and it is thought the bones can now be re-apt. He has been suffer ing Intense pain as a result of the Injury.