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VOLUME 1.
THOMASVILLE, N. C FRIDAY, JULY 1, 1910.
NUMBER 5
Thomasville Twenty Years Ago.
Contributed ,
Thomasville twenty years ago was
large only in territory. It covered
an area of about five hundred acres,
much oi it in old field, farming land
or forest Many of its citizens farm-
ed for a living, owning farms out
Bide of the incorporate limits. The
mercantile interests , of the town
were insignificant and were con
ducted by the following gentlemen:
D. T. Lambeth in an old frame
building on the corner of the now
business part of the town did a gen
eral mercantile business and pa
tiently waited for customers to come,
and then patiently waited upon
them assisted by his son Robert,
then a little boy. L. W. Elliott with
about the same amount of money
invested held forth, in another old
frame building just across the street
on the other side of the railroad and
occupying an easy seat on the porch
was always at his post looking out
tor a prospective customer. Emeley
Thompson just ocross the street in
the Leach building had an occa
sional customer. He and Mr. Eliott
were good friends and the boys
spent much of their time away from
their own store with him because
neither of them were beseiged with
customers. Kinney and Myers on
the site now occapied by the Moore
Brothers measured off calico and
weighed groceries to customers in
that part of the town. J. M. Morris
about that time moved into a new
brick store on Salem street and held
out inducements for an increased
trade. T. F. Harris and John Tyler
each carried a small line of hard
ware and occasionally sold plows,
horse shoes, and such articles as
farmers had to use and did not
have time to o to other towns for
them. Different parties undertook
to sell groceries, continued for
few months and quietly went out
of business. Walter Rounsville
supplied the place with candies and
cold drinks.
Manufacturing Jiraa at a. low , ebb.
The Smelting works did something
in a small way handling ores from
mines of the surrounding country.
The Westmorelands had a monop
oly of the chair business and by
working a few hours a day support.
ed several families. The Spoke and
Handle business was run by Parme
i .4 1 u .uam Inlin ( '.m tr ran
a saw mill with which was connect
ed a sash and blind business. There
were two roller . mills in the place
that did custom work for toll. Sleu
der and Welborn each repaired
plows, wagons, horse shoeing and
Such work as was brouarht in. Mose
Suggs and Frank Thompson repair
ed shoes. Dan the barber had a
monopoly of the barber business.
The Mock House and Lambeth
Hotel were rival houses. They were
were old f came .buildings.. contain
ing but -fewv rooms- Commercial
travelers and others could be enter
tained. Six or eight would crowd
either house. Sometimes two guests
had to occupy one bed and in some
of the rooms there were two beds.
The patronage was about equally
divided between the two hotels.
School facilities were not so good
as was desired. Proftssor Rein-
hart at this time conducted a school
for boys and girls which, was liber
ally patronized by the people of
the town and the surrounding
country. There were also... . private
schools conducted by young Indies
of the town at different places. The
public school districts included, not
only the town bqlt the suburbs.
About this time R; L. , Ledford a
country school teacher took charge
of the public school and was frank
ly informed by the, committee that
the free school as it had. -been con
ducted was not considered respec
table and especially net fit tor girls
to attend. The teacher told the
committee that a school not fit for
girls to attend was; unsuitable for
boys and advised them to send the
girls. In two weeks time there
were as many girls a boys and they
continued to come for ten years
through the teacher's administra
tion. Strenuous means were used to
enforce discipline and some of the
boys pleasantly '.. remember the
means used to persuade them to be
good Utile boys. - There were but
two churches in the town, the
Methodist and Baptist They wor
ehiped in plain, frame houses which
were built in the early fifties when
the town began to build.,' There
was but one drug store and its man
agement frequently changed hands.
Dr. Thomas was the principal phyv
eiclananddid the practice-6f the.
town and the surrounding country.
' The social features of the town
were unique. . The different classes
of evenings met at the stores of
Lambeth and Thompson to talk
politics and discuss the gossip of
the town. The ' young people met
at parties on the lawns at different
places and had a plenty of fun.
They would choose partners, join
hands, form a circle and sing:
"There was a farmer hnd a dog,
Bingo was his name. Bingo, Bingo
was his name," and then they
would change partners and have a
scramble to keep from being left,
for one was always left without a
partner, but the game went on.
The boys rendervoused at the hotels
of long winter evenings told sto
ries, played games and sang songs.
After leaving the hotels they got
together on the streets and sang
Old Black Joe, Bring back my bon
nie bride to me. Darling Chloe, and
thus they whiled the hours away.
Before going home they all repair
ed to Dock Rounsaville's refresh
ment stand and ordered drinks for
all round and sometimes got so
noisy and disorderly that Mr. Roun
saville would order the entire gang
out of his store with positive orders
not to come back again but the next
night the entire force were back
again and in the bent of humor.
In many of the homes of people
who lived in Thomasville two de
cades ago are vacant chairs. Prom
inent men and women who were
then active in the business politi
cal, religious, educational and so
cial affairs of the town have since
piisaed away. The following is an
incomplete list of names of those
who lived in the town a score of
years ago, but have since died
Madison Blair, Agustus Bryant,
R. G. Barrett, Peter Cates, Jesse
Cecil, John Collett, Joseph Delapp,
Edward Jordon, Richard Johnson
J- R. Keen, George Kenny, John
Long, Thomas Livengood, D. T.
Lambeth, David Loftin, John Lof
tin, J. A. Leach, George Lines,
Julian Mendenhall, Capt. Moore,
Cant Mclntne. Copt McCitrty, R.
L. Peace, Alexander Ragan, Wo
Rasran, Walter Rounsaville, Prof.
Reinhart, Samual Shiplett, I. E.
Slender. Edward Strayhorn, Eli
Saintsing, Alexander Saintsing,
Capt Sumner, Thomas Sumner,
Ernest Sumner, W. K. Thompson,
Dr. Thomas, Wm. Thomas, Ed
ward Thomas, Shanon Tomlinson,
John Tyler, Wm. Tyler, D. S. West
moreland, Ridley Westmoreland,
NU1 Westmoreland, Steven West
moreland, John Westmoreland and
Wm. Wood, Mesdames Margaret
Cates, Carolina Crouch, Zadie Cul
bert, AnnaChancy, Catherine Davis,
Lizzie Delapp, Catharine Hannah,
Harriet Harris, Louezer Harris,
Linnie Jones, Lizzie Jones, Theresa
Louis, Mariah Loftin, Sallie Liven
urood, Carolina Lambeth, Susan
Meyers, Evaline Marsh, Julia Moore,
Martha Rounsaville, Jennie Sum.
ner, Letitia Spoolman, Jennie Tom
linson, Nancy Westmoreland, Miss
es.; ttsrraeti uunerv oauie roster,
inaie WeodenhaU, Bessie Ragan,
and Maggie Whitaker.
The Baptist Orphanage, Blair
Town, Onion Hill and Rabbit Quar
ter were suburbs of the town and
are now included in the incorporate
limits. A history of the extension,
growth and progress of the town
would require a . write up of the
Thomasville of to-day.
Nr. Rtgm't Wrbcat BtsMftMM tsBut.
Mr. A. Homer Ragan, Cashier of
the First National Bank, is being
urged by his friends to make the
race for Clerk of the Superior Court
of Davidson county. This has been
political talk among local politicians
for several days. But the politicians
fere thinking about it more seriously
than Mr. Ragan himself. He does
not like the idea of entering into the
political field. , When a representa
tive of the Davtobonian called upon
Mr. Ragan this week and asked if
he had the. matter under consider
ation, he replied: "I don't want
the Clerkship, and have no idea of
making the race against Judge God
win." " '. J
If Mr. Ragan should decide to
enter the' race, the county would
have a free-for-all fight . 'T would
be "nip and tuck" between Godwin
ami Ragan. .Party1 lines and party
loyalty would be forgotten on both
sides. Both men are "favorite sons'
and. both are liked by all parties,
all factions and all races. But Mr.
Ragan thinks too much of Judge
Godwin to make the race against
him, even if he thought he could be
elected. . v
ORPHANAGE DAY,
TwMrty-mth Awiwun; sf the Faqseai ef tts
ThMflKvUto Baptist OfpkaMP
Cttebnrtri Wednesday.
Seven thousand visitors, some of
them from the most distant sections
of the State came into Thomasville
Wednesday to attend the twenty
fifth Annual Meeting of the Thomas
ville Baptist Orphanage. This is
the largest crowd that has ever at
tended an occasion like this. The
board of trustees met in their annual
session Tuesday, but beyond the
routine of business did little except
give Dr. C. A Julian, the Orphanage
physician, instructions to apply to
the Legislature, for a charter for a
Nurses' Training School to be ee
tabliehed in the new Infirmary for
the benefit of the Orphanage girls.
This is intended to give talented
girls one year' s training in nursing,
though the charter will grant the
privilege of extending the course so
as to give a complete education in
that line and graduate nurses if the
officials see fit to do so. It was also
decided to proceed with the Indus
trial Building as soon as funds are
available. The reports of the
ollicers. especially that of the
Treasurer, were unusually good,
the Orphanage owing not u dollar.
When asked for a statement, Pre.
Hobgood said to a Davidsonian
man, "Say that we were very much
Gratified with the condition of the
Orphanage in every respect.
Rev. Dr. W. M. Vines, of Asheville
preached the annual sermon Tues
day night from the text, "The
streets of the city shall be full of
boys and girls playing in the streets
thereof." Zachariah 8:15. His
subject was, "Christianity's "Mes
sage to Childhood," and he began
by quoting the splendid challenge
of Spurgeon, "Let the God who
speaks forth the orphan's homes be
The God." In this connection there
are five points to be emphasized.
First Christianity proclaims , the
incomparable worth of childhood,
and in this the religion of Jesus
Christ stands alone. Second,
Christianity proclaims the religious
intuition of childhood. The thing
that abides longest, the primal
thing in the human eoul is religion.
It is heresy to teach a child that he
must be bad to be good. Third,
Christianity proclaims the impera
tive duty of training the child.
"Bring up a child in the way he
should go and when he is old he
will not depart from it" Fourth,
Christianity proclaims the immeas
urable possibilities of childhood and
fifth it proclaims the coronation of
childhood, first with the crown of
sweet and innocent childhood itself,
then with a crown of good works
and finally with a crown of unfading
glory in the heavenly home.
"This institution is 11 monument
to the memory of John H. Mills,
whose heart was the playground of
orphan children" said Bishop John
C. Kilgo beginning his address
Wednesday morning. His subject
was the Supremacy of the Church
and .he began by asking the ques
tion, What shall America do with
her surplus wealth? He said in
part: "I am not talking at this
time of millionaires, I am not talk
ing of Mr. Rockefeller and Mr. Mor
gan. I am talking of North Caro
linians, men of of average wealth.
The rapid increase of wealth in this
countryis the mostgiganticperil that
threatens the American common
wealth, and American character to
day. . Do not understand me to be
arguing for poverty. To preach
that because a man is poor he is
necessarily righteous is religious
demagoguery. If I bow down and
worship either class, rich or poor,
I am an idolator. Whether my idol
be of wood, or stone, or mud it is
and idol still. But poverty never
destroyed a nation, and nobody who
has made even the most superfi
cial study of history can fail to be
impressed by the ruin wrought by
the misuse of wealth. We either
master pur riches or we are forever
mastered by them, and I know, no
despotism blinder, more relentless,
more heartless than the despotism
of riches Now do the signs indi
cate that wi 'have got' a command
ing grlpbn Our wealth? The spirit
of luxury is abroad in America.. Do
not understand me to make a ! plea
for pioneer - plainness snd bock
woodism. That would be a' step
back toward paganism, j But there
Is s paganism of refinement and we
are today in its grip. The next pan
ic that strikes thi country will be
r
Inn automobile panic. In my
town
there are $250,000 invested in auto
mobiles which are practically all
pleasure machines. I do not deny
the Tight of rich men whocan afford
the expense to have them, but when
clerk.- and wage-earners mortgage
theif homes for them it is signal of
danger. Shall we use the mighty
power of our great resources with
such a careless hand, such a blind
Judgement that it shall become a
menace to our civilization?
Iee but one safety valve the in
crease, the rapid increase, of the
Spirit of benevolence. If we locked
it 4own sooner or later the boiler
tnuijt burst under a tension toogreat
for Hi. Therefore, this institution
hasn wider held of service than the
protection of children. It does a
service to the State; it is a plaster
applied to the inflamation of great
greed. There's many a Methodist
beeh saved out of hell by the col
lection box and I've no doubt there
are k few Baptists. (Juiet skepticism
is the spirit of the times. Not the
blatant infidelity of Ingersoll and
Voltaire, but infinitely more dan
gerous. It states that this is an age
of intelligence and that the preachers
are ,not keeping abreast of it. One
of the iiiont popular books of the
dayij "Thel'allingof Dan Matthews"
is an assault upon the church mak
ing a hero of a coward and a moral
traitor. We are told that the church
h'aff st its ascendency with a high
handed conceit that would absolutely
confuse the saints of the Lord. I
den that superior intellectuality
is the distinguishing characteristic
of the times but rather affirm that
it isjntcllectual shallowness. What
do find on modern bookshelves?
"Th$ Calling of Dan Matthews."
"Trilby," "The One Woman," "The
Little Shepherd" intellectual slops
to feed intellectual swineism! The
problem of the preacher is not to
makfe the age think, but to com
pound a concoction so thin that the
age 'can think it I have never
preached to a congregation that
would live in my library two weeks.
"flam is no -advancing cause that
is not a creation of the church.
Education is a religious creature.
From the Pilgrims down, the church
has been behind education. The
educational system of North Caro
lina is there because the North Car
olina churches demanded that it be
put there. Who are the energetic
classes of this world today? They
are God's people. Go examine your
county tax lists; you will find that
church members own ." to M0 per
cent Of the property. I would
change the Beatitude to read
'Blessed are my people for I willl
give them the earth." When Luther
undertook to relight the flame of
liberty he did it by reforming the
Church. The ministers have always
been the champions of liberty.
The battles upon which this nation' s
liberty rest were not fought at King's
Mountain and Guilford, but when
the preachers went preaching the
gospel of liberty from cabin to cabin
on the mountain side. Citizens of
North Carolina you are not inca
pacitated, you are equipped forcivil
service by your church membership.
The whole Of this country is in the
hands ; of church members and if
religion decays in this land every
other, force of civilization will go
with it A skeptical army has never
won out"
Operation Proves Fatal.
Mrs. F. E.
Slgmsn Succumbs
Hospital.
In StattsviHa
Mrs. X. t,. sigman, who was re
moved to Statesville last week to be
operated on for appendicitis, died
Tuesday morning at 0:00 o'clock, in
Dr. Long's private sanitarium. The
news of her death came as a shock
to most people here, for though she
was known to be sick it was not
thought that her condition was
dangerous. Even after the opera
tion Monday morning it was thought
that she was getting along as well
as could be expected and even the
doctors ; were taken unawares bv
her death, scarcely twenty-four
hours later.
Mrs. . Sigman was Miss Alice Hoke
of. Catawba , county. She was 26
years, old and leaves only her ,hus
band,. Ujt well-known .and popular
manager of the Thomasville Spoke
Works pa' Ta him the sympathy
of th: community will go out In his
great beresvment. ,;.
All of our readers will do well to
read carefully what our Merchants
and "other advitieers have to any
through 'the columns of Thk D. ir-
BONUK.
if '
STATE NEWS.
Huyler, the candy man, has can
celled a mortgage for $23000 which
he held against the Montreat prop
erty.
Laurinburg has organized a club
known as the "Laurinburg Boost
era" whose object is the advertise
ment of their town. They expect to
open their campaign July 4th, and
great preparations are being made.
Success to the "Boosters."
While a tinner was at work on the
roof of a hotel at Forest City, the
18th. his gasoline torch exploded
and threw burning gasoline all over
him. Before lfe reached the ground
he was so horribly burned that he
died two days later.
Mr. J. W. Vad8worth, one of the
best-known and most popular of
Charlotte's younger business men
shot himself in his bedroom Mon
day afternoon. No reason was given
for his rash act except the simple
statement given out by the family,
"excessive use of stimulants."
The fierce factional fight which
has been raging in Wake for some
months past, wound up Saturday,
in a victory by a narrow margin,
for the so-called "insurgents." The
city of Raleigh went for the regu
lars by a heavy majority but the
county vote rolled up a plurality
large enough to overbalance that
of the city and so put the insur
gents in the saddle.
I he hfty-seventh annual meeting
of the North Carolina Medical Soci
ety was held at Wrightsville last
week. The doctors speak in the
highest terms of the meeting saying
it was one of the most interesting
and instructive in the history of the
society. Dr. Stanton, of High
Point, well known in Thomasville,
was re-elected secretary of the soci
ety for a term of two years. This is
his fifth year of service in that posi
tion.
St John's Day, June 24th, wasthe
occasion of a gathering ' of ten
thousand people in Oxford. Five
special trains, crowded to their ca
pacity, brought throngs of people
into the town from early morning
until after noon, Hon. Richard N.
Hackett, Grand Master of North
Carolina, presided and Rev. Plato
Durham, Grand Chaplain of the
order delivered the address. This
annual celebration marks the close
of the fiscal year of the Oxford Or
phan Asylum, the pet of the Ma
sonic lodges of North Carolina. The
orphan children took a prominent
part in the celebration, having
charge of the refreshment stands
upon the grounds among oth-4to be directed to the Indi ops with a
things This has been a very auMview to eecurihg tbe jnior.
cessful year in the Orphanage work
and the officials are to be congratu
lated upon the excellent showing
made.
Probably because he could think
of no other plausible plea, E. E.
Powell, the Scotland Neck murder
er, who killed Policeman Dunn and
wounded State Senator E. E. Travis
and Mr. A. P. Kitchin, decided
to set up insanity. His daughter
was introduced on the stand Mon
day to support the plea, and gave
a very graphic account of Powell's
actions on the day of the tragedy,
and of the gun fight between him
and Richard Kitchin shortly
after the shooting. Her testi
mony was very affecting but the
unsympathetic State's counsel cling
tenaciously to their theory that in
stead of being insane Powell was
merely drunk. Later the defense
found the ground untenable and
the case was compromised without
going to the jury, with a verdict of
murder in the second degree.
Powell gets 30 years.
The latest get-rich-quick scheme,
of which several prominent Char
lotteans were the goats, was sprung
on the fjueen City several months
ago by a group of well-dressed, pros
perous looking men who hired a
fine office, and by means of con
tracts of .sales which the Charlotte
men claim to be false beguiled sev
eral citizens into buying the exclu
sive right of selling a kitchen cabi
net in certain counties at the "rate
of $200 to $300 per county. Thie,
well-dressed group ; disappeared
leaving loads, oi,, cabinets, retail
price $liLlS0 each, behind them and'
carrying several thousand dollars.
ot pertecuy gooa money wun tnero.
The cabinets are still on band t but
the agents have, vanished as. the
mists of the morning, while' the
Charlotte men who were stuck are,
to quote the .SuturxJaj Evening
Post, "running around' In circles
emitting loud cries." f .' n
"t i! ';':i,r.i.vv-tV.;;'wt ?
. '..-.- srro ..,; !-. !. ,nj
NEWS OF THE WEEK.
Senator John W. Daniel, of Vir
ginia, the "Lame Lion,"' died Wed
nesday night, 68 years old.
It seems certain that the Jeffries
Johnson prize fight will be pulled
off in Reno Nev. Tex Rtckard .the
promoterand referee has received a
telegram from Gov. Dickerson as
suring him that there will be no
State inteference with the mill.
The committee appointed to in
vestigate the startling charge
brought by Senator Gore on the
floor of the Senate last Friday, is
already preparing for its worki
It is said that a special agent will
be sent to the Indinn tribes in
Oklahoma to investigate the claims
that have caused all the trouble.
The second hearing in the North
Carolina Tennessee boundiy dis
pute was held at Asheville, June
24th. North Carolina alleges that
Tennessee has several thousand
acres of land that under cirtain
surveys belong to this st.ite.' One
of the features of this cee is tii
taking of a large number ul depos
itions among which will be that of
Rope Twister Connessee a Grniiaui
county Indian who is 102 yeais old. .
''After fighting through the courts
for five years Moses Hass of New
York, and Frederick A Pecktmin.
of Cincinnati, have finally sub
mitted and paid the fiiu-s of
.fliUOO and $1000 respectively, i tit -posed
on them as a result ol the
famous "Cotton Leak" episole in
the Statistics Division of the V. S.
Department of Agriculture. On
payment of the fines the othor in
dictments against them were nol
prossed.
The lawyers of New Jersey find
themselves involved in a consider
able tangle over the Charlton mur
der case. Charlton was aneeted
and held simply as a fugitive from
Italian justice and unless he in ex
tradited by Italy the courts cannot
touch him. Rome nntnrally Hesi
tates to demand that the American
government surrender one- 'of its
own citizens for the murder of an
American so there is a possibility
that Charlton may walk out of jail
a free man and the whole thing end
in a farce.
It is said that this, the tliirUci.tli,
will be the last census taken o; the
American Indians in iheir tribal
rela;.o;u. ,.r the of.'iciula cuicnJ-itc
that in another ten yearn all the- In
dians will have become citizens; no
extra precautions have been taken
to make this census accurate. The
census of fice formulated iiuHiufes
mation possible relative to tbeir
condition. The response tii'be
schedule of questions' ' will ' uhew
each Indians - tribal relations,
proportion of Indian.. uni.- other
blood; number of . times married;
whether now living in polygamy,
if living in polygamy whether
wives are sisters; education; Whe
ther or not he is taxed; wheiKei he
has received his allotment;' aud
whether living in civilized. , or . ab
original dwelling.
Thomasville's Great Need.
All who were here. "Orphanage
Day" got all that was coining io
them in the wayofd-u-s-t. ' Ttiiimas
ville has grown to be quite n little
city and now the crying need'of the
town is waterworks. Our streets
are seldom ever sprinkled, and then
only through the goodnem pT'r01d
Nature." A town ' the Size' of
Thomasville should have 'water
works. They are a necessity und
not a luxury. It not only improves
the health condition of the. town,
but helps to build it up. The town
would profit in manv ways by hav
ing this much heeded and -modern
improvement We. hope; the'' Sday
will Boon dawn when jthe,cj&fteng of
Thomasville. will, al) . ssjf w$h,one
voice "'give us waterworks and
sewerage." . . . :"
Pat bait at Jaw. J. k I
One f the notaale itAtwit$.ytm-
terday'.e exercises at tt Orphanag
wps the prenenttin. totlQrhan.
behalf of.the emrMoWsWipMM-.
trait of Rev, Jesse1 ' ByntVm ttnone,
the institution." The jxjrtrait wt the
"builder" ae he wk cali'e sc.
cejpted by MrV fJ.P. fiQbgeoH'Presv
ident of the Board of Trustee
1 Mf. (W 5Ml.;jA..Vi-.''"vS..v;'