North Carolina Newspapers

TODAY’S THOUGHT “If you would know the value at a dollar try to borrow one.”—Franklin. DEVOTED ! Series 1937 The Alleghany Times TO THE CIVIC, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF ALLEGHANY COUNTY GALAX, VA. (Published for SpAta, N. C.) THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1937. EIGHT PAGES Number 13. Subscription Price $1 a year in advance in Alleghany county only UNST NEW TAXES scent suggestions that threat inflation should be controlled increased profits and income s to balance the Federal bud as advanced by Manriner S. es, chairman of the Federal rve Board, coupled with indi ms that Treasury expecta i will not be met by the in p-tax collections during March ! focused limelight on the sub of new taxes. ■esident Roosevelt, while hing the situation with a view iking measures, if necessary, revent runaway prices and an aonary boom, does not be that there will be an in ■e of taxes at the current >n of Congress. His views made known following posi statements to this effect by tor Harrison, chairman of the ice committee, and Represen ; Doughton, chairman of the l and Means Committee of House. This statement does pply to the “nuisance” taxes i expire in June but which probably be renewed, with ig exceptions. cal officials believe that the it can and should be balanc ) closely as possible for the years 1987-38. In fact, with intemplated expenditure of id seven billion dollars next they do not foresee a dis ncy larger than one or two ■ed millions, which would be enough to oonsider practi a balanced budget. Relief are not entirely known and ims certain that new sums be needed for this purpose a June 30 and that the re igencies will start the next year without much cash. ME TAX YIELD ! return of prosperity was ed upon to bring tax re up considerably and thus the balance desired. How inoome tax payments in i, it seems, will be more $100,000,000 less than the 000,000 expected, that the collections will also be short hat the year’s taxes will not up to the $2,373,000,000 lated by the President in ry. Whether later returns Iter this outlook remains un r GETS FUNDS Naval Appropriations bill, ng more than five hundred l dollars for the fiscal year has been passed by both i and, although minor differ remained to be agreed upon, S a continuation of the pres aval policy of the United , The bill provides $130,* 10 for the construction of ig craft, including two 35 ftttle ships, eight new de lrs, four* submarines and care of the cost of construc luring the next fiscal year total of eighty-one ships of rpes. The battleships, the » be constructed in rhany will cost about $50,000, ach but only $15,179,000 is ed to cover the initial cost. ie opposition was voiced but, e whole, the overwhelming lent of Congress is behind ippropriations. Meanwhile, favy Department began its ise of steel for construction, ing its first contract in sev enths, thus securing enough to begin construction on six yers and three submarines had been delayed because 'acturers refused to bid on Contracts under the terms of falsh-Healy Act. new F'cKcy on Federal aid in financing projects, ini recently by tbe President, en to mean the virtual ter ion of the Public Works Ad ration. Hereafter, Federal will be devoted only to the yroent of labor taken from rolls and the PWA will pro $116 to the labor cost of its for every $100 spent on taken from the relief rolls forty-five per cent of the f the project. In brief, the grants will stipulate that no if the Federal money may 4 for labor not taken from rolls. : -vv ' '• fcY MAY END PWA | retofoo-e the policy has been quire employment of relief “where available” and J workers could meet certain krds of efficiency. Even so, ■er, contractors four 1 relief unsatisfactory end often re ’ such men for only a short Jjefore replacing them with not secured through the The .reader probably uii that when the PWA 6, Please) Piney Creek H. S. Commencement To Begm On April 9 Two Grade Operettas To Be Presented That Night. Graduation Exercises Scheduled For April 16 TO HOLD STYLE SHOW Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” To Be Given On Saturday Night, April 17. Sermon To Graduates April 18 On Saturday night, April 17, the Senior students of Piney Creek high school, as a part of the commencement exercises, bringing the 1936-37 term of the school to a close, will present the play, “Oliver Twist.” Many persons of the Piney Creek and surrounding communi ties are looking forward with much pleasure to having an op portunity to see the famous Dick ens story right there among them by the boys and girls they know. Miss Edna Collins will be seen as the pathetic little, Oliver, who is bom and raised in a. work house. Quentin Fender will ap pear as the wily old Fagin, the leader of a gang of pick-pockets and “just between us,” said an in terested person recently, “he. can fill the bill.” His friends, it is said, can hardly wait for the per formance to see Chap Hampton, as blustering Bill Sikes, glower at his wife, Nancy, and the lat ter part will be played by Miss Blanche Busic. Then there is the rich comedy part of- the “Art ful Dodger,” 9aid to be one of the funniest parts ever written. Basil Landreth will play this part, and the person previously refer red to said in reference to this part: “You will laugh; strike me pink if you don’t.” This play was written by Wil liam Linda and is to be produc ed at Piney Creek by special ar rangements with a Minneapolis, Minn., concern. When “Oliver Twist” first ap , peared as a novel, the good peo ; pie of England were quite horri fied. Charles Dickens had delved | into the slums of London in or der to point a great moral, and there were certain people who were greatly offended, or appear j ed to be so. Mr. Dickens, hearing i of the criticism raised by his 1 novel, answered them in part in I the newspapers as follows; “I confess that I have yet to | learn that a lesson of the purest j good may not be drawn from | the vilest evil. I have always | believed this to be a' recognized and established truth, laid down i by the greatest men the world ! has ever known, constantly acted upon by the best and wisest na tures,” die wrote, “I saw no rea | son when I wrote this book why ; the very dregs of life, so long as their speech did not offend the I ear, should not serve the purpose j of a moral, at least as well as | life’s froth and cream. In this I spirit, when I wished to show, in ! little Oliver, the principal of good surviving through every adverse circumstance, and triumphing at last—it appeared to me to do this would be to attempt something which1 was greatly needed and which would be of service to society. And therefore I did my hmt.” As soon as the above article appeared in the papers people be gan to see “Oliver” in a new light. They came to the great (Turn to Page 5, Please) Sparta Women Are Active In D, A. R. Work I . Mrs. Edwin Duncan, Sparta, prepared a report of the past year's activities of the Jonathan H-jnt chapter, D. A. R. fDaugle tr-s of the American Revolution) | read V* a meeting of the organi zation held lost Thursday after noon m Elkin, at the home of Mrs. W. R. Wellborn. Mrs. Dun can was chapter regent for the last year. Mrs. R. A. Doughton, also of Sparta, was selected chapter his torian to serve, during the en suing jcr,.. Mrs. Duncan was elected a delegate to attend the annual D. A. R- meeting to be held in Charlotte. Welcoming Spring With Music LOS ANGELES . . Now we know that Spring is here. These young violinists are part of the 1,500 piece children’s orchestra got together for an outdoor rehearsal. They are members of the Junior Musicians of America, a non-profit organization that has over 5,000 members in Los Angeles alone. Rites In Memory Of Blast Victims Held Easter Sun. President Roosevelt Sends Message, Which Is Read At Service Held At Scene Of Great School Disaster New London, Tex., Mar. 30.— Hundreds of sorrowing relatives and friends stood solemnly with moist eyes in crisp, bright weath er Easter Sunday afternoon and heard comforting words in a me morial service for the estimated 465 who died in a school gas explosion 10 days earlier. Gathered at the scene of the world’s greatest child disaster, with the gaping foundation of the wrecked school in the foreground, they heard read the condolences Of. the president of the United States and the spoken word of the governor of Texas, via radio. In nearby cemeteries where blooming redbud and dogwood already are beginning to color the derrick dotted landscape, were hundreds of fresh graves. Opening the service at 3:05 p. m., the estimated time of the terrific blast which turned a spring-like day into one of the saddest for Texas, Gov. James V. Allred, speaking from Austin, read a message from President Roosevelt and expressed his own sympathy for the grief-stricken community. “Unbelievable and unbearable, the disaster stunned the world and struck calamity to the hearts of friends, relatives and the uni verse,” Go(V. Allred said. “No tragedy since that on the cross has so swiftly struck the helpless the puire of heart, the innocent, as the tragedy of New London.” At the start of his brief ad dress, the governor said he had a message from President Roose velt. In it the president said he mourned with those who are griev ed. He said Mrs. Roosevelt join ed him in an assurance of sin cere sympathy. Following the governor’s mes sage there was a moment of silent prayer Prayer was offered and a me morial address was made. A quartet sang “Abide With Me." The sympathy of 8,000,000 school children of the nation was expressed in the presentation of a large floral cross of red carna tions on a white background. Improvement* Are Made By Reeve* At Spartan Theatre In keeping with the constant efforts of Ben G. Reeves, manager of the Spartan theatre, to give the public the very best in theatre entertainment, one of the most modern, up-to-date, sound systems has recently been install ed, including new sound heads, new amplifiers and new speakers. Interior sound improvements have also been made on the building. Mar. Reeves states that the new equipment will make the Spartan theatre equal to the best in sound and screen reproduction. iBank Merger Is Completed Mon. In N. Wilkesboro Bank Of Sparta To Be One Of Group. Doughtons Are Eelected Officials Of New Organization North Wilkesboro, Mar. 30.— | Consolidation of four banks into i the Northwestern Bank, an insti tution with resources of approxi mately $3,000,000, serving north western North Carolina and hav ing head offices in North Wilkes boro, was completed at a meeting of directors yesterday. Congressman Robert L. Dough ton, of Laurel SpringGggfcas elect ed chairman of the board of the new bank; his brother, Rufus A. Doughton, of Sparta, president; C. C. Hunter, North Wilkesboro, vice president; Leroy B. Martin, Raleigh, executive vice president; and Edwin Duncan, North Wilkes boro, secretary. The bank has an authorized j capital stock of $500,000, and be gins business with a fully paid in capital of $150,000 and a sur plus of $75,000. Charter was issued Saturday by Secretary of State Thad Eure and adopted at ; yesterday’s meeting. The new institution is a con- j solidation of the Merchants and | Farmers Bank of Bakersville and | Burnsville, the Watauga County Bank of Boone and Blowing Rock, the Bank of Sparta, and the Deposit and Savings Bank of North Wilkesboro. Branches will be maintained in Bakersville, lowing Rock, Boone, Burnsville and Sparta, in addition to the headquarters here. Boards of directors of' the merged banks were unanimously elected as local boards of manag ers. Leroy Martin, the only newcom er to the organization, has for the past two years been vice presi dent and assistant trust officer in I charge of the trust department of j Wachovia Bank and Trust Com- , pany’s Raleigh office. He was j formerly executive secretary of j the state school commission. He is a native of Yadkin county; a graduate of Elkin high school, Buie’s Greek Academy, and Wake Forest College in 1926. Junior-Senior Reception Held At Sparta H. S. An enjoyable event of the week wa* the annual Junior-Senior re ception of Sparba high school, which was held in the Sparta gymnasium on Friday .night. About sixty attended, 'includ ing members of the "two classes, the high school faculty, and a few additional guests. Among the latter were several alumni of the school and their guests. The gymnasium, which was ar tistically decorated with pine, was the scene of some lively contests and games, which were led by the following girls: Misses Ema line Hawthorne, Doris Jones, Mil dred Gentry, Lucile Pugh, Irene Shores and Virginia Jolnes. Later In the evening a delight ful salad course was served. Swift Waugh and Floyd Sutphin Die In Galax Shooting Saturday; Assailant Then Commits Suicide Senator Glass, Of Va., Attacks Court Proposal Senior Va. Senator Makes First Major Radio Talk Since 1932 Campaign. Robinson Makes Reply Washington, Mar. 30.—Presi dent Roosevelt’s court legislation proposal is an “abominable” at tempt to replace representative government with an autocracy, said Senator Carter Glass (D., Va.) in a radio address deliveied here last night. In his first major radio address since he urged Mr. Roosevelt’s election in 1932, Glass said: “No threat to representative democracy since the foundation of the republic has exceeded in its evil portents this attempt to pack the Supreme Court of the United States and thus destroy the purity and independence of this tribunal of last resort.” The 79-year-old Democrat, who was secretary of the treasury un der Woodrow Wilson, contended no question of party loyalty is involved. me xaiK sdoui party loyally being involved in the opposition to this extraordinary scheme is a familiar species of coercion,” he continued. “It is sheer poppy cock. No political party since the establishment of the govern ment ever dared make an issue of packing the Supreme Court.” The proposal to reorganize the high tribunal was not mentioned by the administration in the cam paign last fall, Glass declared, adding: “We know there has been no mandate from the people to rape the Supreme Court or to tamper with the constitution.” He said the proposed reorgani zation is exactly what Woodrow Wilson called “an outrage upon constitutional morality.” Mr. Roosevelt himself, Glass as serted, warned in a speech made in 1930 that centralization of all authority and control in the na tional government was an essen tial to bringing about “govern ment by oligarchy, masquerading as democracy.” "When before, may I venture to ask, in the history of the country has this nation more near ly approached the situation thus deplored?” Glass demanded. Washington, Mar. 30.—Senator j Robinson, the Democratic leader, J loosed a caustic attack tonight upon three prinicpal critics of the Roosevelt court* legislation and asserted the Supreme Court it self “has proved that the presi dent is right.” He said that Associate Justice McReynolds stands “condemned by his own test as a poor sports man,” upbraided Senator Borah (R.( Ida.) with charges of incon sistency, and accused Glass (D., Va.) of using “vitriolic and ex travagant language.” Tacitly, the majority leader made it abundantly clear that the couit’s about-face on the mini mum wage issue has not dimin ished the administration’s deter mination that the court legisla tion shall be enacted. He turn ed its decision, in fact, to the purposes of his own argument. "The chief executive has based the reorganisation program on the. premise that the social and eco nomic needs of the present can be adequately dealt with by reason able interpretation of the consti tution,’’ Robinson declared in a radio address. HOUSE DESTROYED BY FIRE FRIDAY MORNING The John Irwin house, located near Prathers Creek church, was destroyed by fire early Friday morning. The building, which was vacent, was owned by Wiley Irwin. The fire is thought to have been of incendiary origin. a _ Tragedy Is Distinct Shock To Community; Reason For Man's Rash Act Is Mystery Perhaps the most shocking tragedy ever to happen in Galax or surrounding section took place there last Saturday morning (March 27) when Swift Waugh and Floyd Sutphin were shot down in Belk’s Department store, in which they were employed. The distressing occurrence took place about 8:30 a. m. The fatal shots were fired from an automatic pistol in the hand of Thomas Nail, of Woodlawn, who was owner of the building in which a part of the store is operated! Nail, after the shooting, was found by Chief of Police J. O. Jones lying in a parking lot back of the store building near death from a bullet wound in the head. Authori ties said this wound was self-inflicted. He was taken immediately to Galax hospital, where he lingered throughout the rest of the day and until 11:30 Satur day night, when he died. According to women employees of the store who were on duty at the time of the tragedy, Mr. Nail enter ed the store, as he had often done, and one or more of the employees expressed pleasure that he had come in again, as he had not been in the store for sometime. However, he made no reply, it is said, and one of some carpenters who were doing some work overhead in the store dropped a bolt near him and asked him to hand the bolt up to them. They, also, received no response, and thinking he had not heard them, repeated the request, with the same result. Nail walked directly toward the rear of the storeroom, where Mr. Waugh and Mr. Sutphin were, they having come in for work only a short while before. Officers Destroy Distilleries In Alleghany County G Agents of the Federal Alcohol Tax Unit, working in conjunction with Sheriff Walter M. Irwin, made a raid in the Bull Head section of Alleghany county on Thursday, destroying two large steam distilleries, John Crouse was arrested at one of the “stills” and brought be fore Commissioner George Cheek. On posting a five-hundred dollar bond for his appearance at the next term of Federal court at North Wilkesboro, Crouse was re leased. On Tuesday, Sheriff Irwin, ac companied by deputy sheriff Royal and Chief of Police R. D. Gentry, destroyed a medium sized steam outfit about two miles south of Sparta. Several hundred gallons of mash were poured out. Miss Inskeep Is Popular Student At Va. College Miss Josephine Inskeep, daugh ter of Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Inskeep, Roaring. Gap. who is majoring in physical education a.t Fredericks burg State Teachers college, Fredericksburg, Virginia, last fall made the soccer and hockey teams, and this spring the in door baseball team and the bas ketball team, on which she plays the position of left forward. This freshman basketball team has yet to lose a game this sea son, and is eligible for the school championship. Miss Inskeep has made the 100 points required for membership in the Athletic Association of the school. Church Council Makes Appeal Against Liquor Greensboro, Mar. 30.—On be half of the executive committee of the North Carolina Council of Churches, a state-wide interchurch organization, “an appeal fep the Christian people of North Caro lina” was issued here today by ham; Dr. Walter L. Ltngle, of Bishop Paul B. Kern, of Dur Davidson, and Rev. W. W. Peefe, D. D., of Greensboro. I Almost immediately, the clerks toward the front of the store heard shots but, in the excite ment that followed the outbreak, of firing, none of them, it seems,, knew whether Mr. Waugh or Mr. Sutphin was shot first. Mr. Sut phin’s son, Sherman, was near his father at the time of the shoot ing, but he was so excited, it is said, that he, too, is unable to tell which of the men was shot, first. Three bullets entered the right side of Mr. Sutphin’s chest and Mr. Waugh was shot under the left arm. Mr. Waugh walked several steps forward, after he was shot, falling in the shoe de partment, near the cashier’s of fice. Mr. Sutphin was found lying near the cellar stairway. He apparently fell where he waft shot. No motive for the slaying has been advanced, as no one seems to be able to think it* possible that the slayer had any ill feel ing toward either of the men he shot. In fact, it is said that he was heard by someone only a. fear days ago to comment on the up rightness of and fine qualities pos sessed by the two men he slew, both of whom were classed among the very best of citizens by ev eryone who has been heard to comment in any way concerning their lives and the shocking way in which they went to their -ieaths. The only words that Nail' was heard bo utter either before, or (Turn to Page 8, Plfease)' (JiHOvr "ffr dkat uMii»£r dead m«n’« jIwm MV long, go barefoot ” jama, *—Tn» oouar, nan aauar auinonzeo cornea, i /■t gt-Hane* aa> ML Everest lor the first time. 1938. ♦i-Henry Hudeon i I torn Holland on an s ploring expedition. Mi’ $•-$4,880,000,000 Work Relief billpastedby Gonjnm 1935. 8—The North Pole woe reached by Comroandtof Robert E. Peary. 1909. T—Port Sumter, £ C. attacked In an unouc oeeeful attempt to take Charleston. 1863. SSB»hSa*‘'