North Carolina Newspapers

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. <Star News Bureau.) Raleigh, Feb. 5.—While it is known that several of the '120 members of the state Democratic executive committee are favorable to holding the state , Democratic convention in Charlotte in April oi May, instead of in Raleigh, the us ual place, and the “Queen City” has been promised consideration by State Chairman Odus M. Mull, it may be that the convention will be held in Charlotte from necessity and not from choice. It became known today', in state ments from leading Raleigh citlaens who are Interested In the new Ra leigh auditorium, that there is doubt If the new structure can be placed in readiness by time the convention Is to be held. It was stated that the construction work on the handsome building at the opposite end of Fayetteville serene, from the state capitol is ahead uf 'schedule, but It was doubted if (sufficient time was allowed for fur nishing the building. . “We can get the building finish ed, but I'm not sure we can pro vide seats for the convention dele gations,'' said one Raleigh citizen. In that case, there will be no ques tion about the convention city, the statement being that no other city has a meeting place of sufficient capacity that Charlotte, with its new' armory-auditorium The executive committee will meet in Raleigh early in March to elect the date and place of the rv'iVTTVrrm ON PAGE TTN City Submits Letters From Other Towns And Cities On Their Experience UnderS. P. U. All Seems to be Favorable to Sale Of Municipal Plants to South ern Public Utility Co. _ ■ . Four towns and cities whose mu-1 nicipality owned light plants have' been sold to the Southern Public Utility make favorable reports to Mayor 8. A. McMurry as to their experience under S. P. U. ownership, according to the following state ment and letters handed The Clev eland Star by Mayor McMurry ; To the Citizens of Shelby; As a matter of further informa tion we have requested mayors of the following cities, Hickory, Mount Airy. Lenoir and Mooresvtlle to give us their opinion and experience with Southern Public Utilities Co., and we are submitting these letters as a matter of information S. A. McMurry, Mayor and Board of Aldermen. City of Hickory. Mr. S. A McMurry. Mayor of Shelby, Shelby, N. C. Dear Mayor McMurry In reply to your letter regarding the sale of your light plant to the Southern Public Utflitlea Co., I can only give you the viewpoint of our city, which has been served by this company since 1916. We have never owned our own lighting plant. Hickory has a population of ap proximately eleven thousand, and our costs for street lighting and for power for water pumping for the past 12 months amounted to $22, 771.86. This figure also includes lighting for our city schools,city hall and auditorium. Our service in street lighting, and power, ha3 been unu sually good and we have only com mendation for the Southern Public Utilities Co., in this regard. . In addition to this, while, the company is a large one our con tacts have been most pleasant, as Mr. Marshall, the president, and Mr Harrell and Mr. Lucas the vice-pres (CONTINUED ON PAGE NINE i Johnny McKnight In Santiago Quake Area Shclbv Newspaperman Sent From Havana To Help Cover Disaster. Mr. and Mrs. John S. McKnight learned yesterday from the Asso ciated Press that their son. Johnny, manager of the AP bureau at Ha vana, Cuba, was sent to Santiago Wednesday to help cover the news events in the earthquake disaster there early Wednesday. Mr. Mc Knight was sent to Havana a num ber of months ago to help the As sociated Press staff there hand'e the news of the Cuban revolution shortly after the fighting ended he was plaoed in charge of the Havana bureau. Associated Press stories out of Santiago Thursday afternoon and this morning were written by Mc Knight. No More Cold Weather. "In my opinion there will be lit tle more of what we call real win ter weather this year,” says Carlos Jones, well known political cam paigner and jack of numerous trades. "We may have right much more weather in February and March like we have been having, not very cold and not very warm, but we'll have no real bitter cold spells.” Boiling Springs College Goes On I “No Debt” Basis { Beilin* Springs, Feb. 5.— { At a merting of the board of . trustees and the pastors of ; the Kings Mountain and •Sandy Run associations held here this week, a new finan cial policy was inaugurated for Boiling Springs college. Hereafter no additional in debtedness is to be Incurred and 10 per cent of all collec tions will be applied to reduce debts already contracted. W.P. Wray Takes Life In Maryland Former Shelby Business Man Found Dead In Office. Inhaled Gas. Relative*, here have been Uitorrr. ed of the death at Baltimore, Mary land, last month of William I*. Wray, former Shelby business man Mr. Wray, according to an item in a Baltimore paper, took his own life. After leaving Sheiuy years ago he became a commission merchant in Baltimore and his body was found In his gas filled office there by an employe. He was 61 years of age. A note found near his body read: "Dearest Wife—Forgive me. I can't help it. See that ali the children go through school. Do your best. Awfully sorry. You and First National bank are the execu tors of my estate. Your loving hus band." State Line Man The deceased was a son of the late Dock and Susan McCraw Wray of the State Line Baptist church section. When quite a young mar he clerked in Shelby for the late V. C. Bostic. In 1890 Mr. Wray and C. H. Shull bought the Bostic stove business and the J. H. Hightower tin shop. The Shull and Wray firm operated in the former location q: the Gillespie music store. In 1893 Mr. Shull took over the Wray in terest and Wray connected himself with the late A. B. Suttle and George P. Webb in a sewing ma chine agency at Culpepper, Va. From there he went to Baltimore where he was successful in the pro duce business. Among the surviving relatives at. three brothers and three sisters of Atlanta, Georgia, and a cousin. Mr? Lola Turner Love, of Shelby. Using Short-Term Convicts Here Now Cline 'Working Several In Cleaning Court House. Others Build V Curb Market. A number of short-term county convicts, who otherwise would have served their time in idleness at the county jail, were put to work this week by A. E. Cline, chairman of the Cleveland commissioners. A number of the 'liort-termers were given pails and cloths and set at the task of cleaning the smoke and dust-covered walls In the court house. Others were used’ to assist a carpenter in building a small house for the city curb market just off the square on North Washington street. Since the State highway commis sion will work only those convicts who have sentences of 60 days or longer the county has had to keep up convicts with shorter terms. Some of the short-termers have been employed at work about the county home, but with not enough work to employ all of them the short-termers are a dean expense j to the county while being fed and housed during their sentences. Since | the commissioners decided to build j a house for the home demonstra tion club curb market several of the men were put to work there and as a result It was necessary to em ploy only one man to complete the job. The first cleaning job in the court house was in the front office on the northeast corner, generally known as the tax office The clean ing process so Improved the appear ance of the room that it appears now to have been re-neinted Expect Crowds For Farm Meet Saturday At Z All Farmers, Wives Are Invited ! U*lhfrin| At Court House To Or Five-Year plan To RoMt Agriculture. A hi* meeting of (traim I and farm women of Cleveland county is to be held at the court house in Shelby Saturday afternoon, beginning at two o’eloek. The general purpose of the meet ing is to outline an agricultural program for the county on a sys tematic long-time plan that It If believed will do much to improve the cxlstiftg%grleu)tural conditions Similar Program All over the state and nailon a similar program Is being worked out to suit the climate, soil and markets of each section. The move ment has already gained consider ably headway In Western North Carolina counties, where practical ly a score of counties have joined in following an agricultural pro gram In producing certain crops |nnd marketing them, Two Speakers. Two well known agricultural speakers will be here lor Saturday's meeting, according to R. W. Shoif ner, county farm agent. They are John W, Good win ,of Raleigh, dis trict farm agent, and Miss Ruth Current, district home economics agent. A summary will be made of crop'; produced in this county last year, acreage devoted to the various crops, and the profit and loes shown in the crops. This is to be done for the purpose of finding what crops pay and what do not, and also to ascertain what new phases of agriculture might prove worthwhile for this county. When this fa done the idea is to outline a program for crops, rotation of crops and cooperative marketing plan to boost the farm products of j the entire county. The Western j North Carolina counties have al ready united in a long-term plar. which they call the "Five-Ten Year Agricultural Plan." It is believed an agricultural section by cooperating in producing their best paying crops and building up a market for (hose crops can lift agriculture conditions artd prices to a bettei paying level. Urge All To Come Farm Agent Shoffner and Mrt. Irma Wallace, home agent, urge : all farmers and farm women who can possibly attend to do so as it is believed the meeting Saturday will be one of the most helpful | ever had in the county. Extension Class At Kings Mountain Prof. Haworth Begins Second Se mester Of Instruction For Teachers. The second semester of the ex tension classes for teachers and : others being conducted at Kings Mountain by Prof. D. R Haworth, of Lenoir-Rhyne college, will begin at the Kings Mountain high school Saturday morning at 3 o’clock. The classes are held every fortnight and are being attended by numerous teachers of Cleveland, Ciaston and Lincoln counties for the purpose of receiving additional credits and ad vancing their certificates A num ber of others who are not in the teaching profession are s>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 ni<J * eomnleh* viirvwv wrll] he re:"' when funds are available. It we* hoped a month or two ago that the new highway link, one that would open up a fertile territory, neigh* be constructed early this year. Bur the following news from Raleigh offsets that hope: "The best and almost the only chance North Carolina has of get ting any new highway construc tion hr the state within the nex* year or two Is the enactment cf the bill now pending in congress appropriating $125,000,000 for high way construction in the various states, according to Chief Highway Engineer Leslie R. Ames. Chap man E. B. Jeffress of the state highway commission is in Wash ington conferring with members ol the North Carolina congressional delegation urging their support of •' OXT rvr&C r>4rtV 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.