1
H UK
LARGEST CIRCULATION
OF
ANY NEWSPAPER IN
IREDELL COUNTY
AND THE NEWS LEADER
SINGLE COPY 5 Cents.
M22SSi2S' N. CyTOURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1937
VOL.15. No. 15
2
win
Community Chaff
If you have not met Mr. O. O.
Boles, the great Cascade trapper,
you have missed meeting a guy
that can really trap 'em. While
friend Boles can trap the best
of them, lions, bears or anything
in season, here of late he has
gone out mostly for rabbits. At
present he is engaged in making
a man-trap to trap the guy who
stole one of his rabbit traps. The
trap was found under the house
of Mr. G. H. Tillotson, but Mr. Til
lotson, not being a trapper, has
been absolved of all blame by
Mr. Boles. It seems that Mr. Boles
does not wish to call any names,
but he confided to us for publica
tion that he suspects Mr. E. P.
Pleasant of the nefarious deed.
He has offered a nice reward to
anyone who can get Mr. Pleasant
to confess to the crime.
Mayor Claude Mayhew was
showing -ui several stalks of
corn that had been brought Into
his store by Mr. O. W. Nail, of
Barber Junction. These stalks
had four and five huge ears to
the stalk. It is a special crop
grown by Mr. Nail for a fertili
zer company. By treating this
crop with special fertilizing pro
cesses, Mr. Nail made 79 bushels
to the acre, or 3 times the normal
yield. The crop was planted in
upland soil, it was stated. If
you're interested in corn (the
grain, hot the fluid), drop in and
have a look.
Here & There: Mrs. Sam
Pharr's dog drinks coffee but
it must have just the proper a
mount of milk and sugar. i
Guy Shook has sold his "Guy's I
Grill" to Mr. G. U. Love, of Cor
nelius. . . A gal by the name of
Lil says to ask Johnny Morrow
if he still sells tangerines two for
a nickel. We don't know what
it's all about, Johnny, but we're
asking you. Does you?. . . And
there are a lot of folks here and
about who wonder what ever be
came of Mose Ozmont. Well,
Mose has been an employee at
the Ford Motor Co. in Detroit for
the past 22 years. He sent Mr.
J. A. B. Goodman a nice Xmas
gift. Mr. and Mrs. Ozmont write
that the world is doing okey by
them. . . . Gertrude Kelly U
wearing a diamond ring on that
finger which is very much which
.... Elizabeth Laney, who does
the sports coverage for this sheet,
has pasted the name cf "Blue
Beauties" on the gals' basket
ball team over at the high school.
Nice going, Miss Laney. We once
hung a label on an Alabama
all-American fullback that still
sticks. His name was Johnny
Cain, and we gave him the mo
nicker, "Hurry" Cain get it?
Hurricane! Nice going, McKnight
.... In the year or more that
Bob Giles has been here he has
obtained some 15 or 20 divorces
for clients in the Statesville su
perior court. Just another home
wrecker! We are suggesting he go
to Reno and take a post-graduate
course and specialize in that
field. . . . The Legion Hut is
throwing a dance Xmas night
($5.00 for advertising, please
and a couple of tickets for me
and another guy's gal). . .
School is out and the school
marms have went. . . Now that
he is married, Dr. Frank Wilson
says he will get places. There
are many places, Frank, that a
married man can get, two of
them being behind the eight
ball and in front of the sheriff. .
Hugh Sloop has moved into his
new home on Eastern Heights. .
Charlie Sherrill is building a nice
brick house about 2 miles up
the Statesville highway
Holmes Poston, the town's
youngest copper, has purchased
the house and lot belonging to
Ralph Brawley, on Maple street,
and has moved into it. . . . He
len Pharr is In from U. N. C, loo
king quite clever in collegiate
garb. . . . And thanks a lot,
mates, for the Xmas cards, es
pecially youse guys and gals from
afar oft, such as Dr. Wilson Moore
of N. Y., Brunner Ray Fox, of
Los Angeles, Ted Husing, of N.
Y., Hugh Freeze, of New Orleans,
etc.
J. F. Bowles Dies
In Statesville
BURIED LAST SUNDAY
Succumbs After Brief Iilness
of Heart Trouble; Was Head
of Department Store
Statesville, Dec. 17 John F.
Bowles, 72, widely known mer
chant and traveling salesman,
president of the Ramsey-Bowles
Department store, died this after
noon at the H. F. Long hospital
where he had been a patient
since the first of the month after
suffering of heart trouble.
Mr. Bowles, a native of Olin,
this county, had been living in
Statesville since he was a boy. He
was a clerk for various local mer
cantile establishments for a num
ber of years before he became a
traveling salesman, representing
various business houses. He trav
eled for John E. Hurst and com
pany of Baltimore for 27 years,
leaving the road in 1926 in order
to devote his entire time to his
store here.
He had been connected with
the Ramsy-Bowles Department
store since its organization 40
years ago, and served as president
for a number of years before
his death.
He was a member of the States-'
V,1 I I t tl ! -.1
.c uuaiu uic ume ui
j utabu. iic was a ui. cv L ui in
the First National bank and for
a number of years was a director
V North Carolina Railway.
nC uu urn. a iucioiiB ujtinoer
.if Hip Mpthnrtlst fhnrrt tnr
V;
many years was a member of the
uvaiuuiowaiuaviuou,.,
church.
In November 1393, Mr. Bowles
was married to Miss Mabel Grant
of Goldsboro. Surviving are Mrs.
Bowles: three sons, J. F. Bowles,
Jr., of New York City; Louis G.
Bowles of Lexington, and William
C. Bowles of Statesville; a daugh
ter, Mrs. Stanford Webb of Ashe-
ville. Funeral services were held
Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock
at Broad Street Methodist
church. Interment was followed
in the family plot in Oakwocd
cemetery.
Miss Mary Christmas
Likes Her Name But
Not The Wisecracks
Evansvilie, Ir.d., Dec. 17. Mary
Christmas, cf Poseyville, pretty
18-year-old business college stu
dent, likes her name but not the
wisecracks it brings.
With a smile she explained to-
"People say, 'glad to know you,
Miss Merry Christmas. My name
is Happy New Year.' They say it
as they'd say, 'so's your old
man.
"It's very inconsiderate."
For ten centuries, sim said,
parents of every other generation
of the Christmas family have
named one girl Mary after the
mother of the child of Bethlehem.
550 Alabama Convicts Are Given Two
Weeks Paroles for a Merry Christmas
Montgomery, Ala., Dec. 17. To-
ward the east. west, north and!
" '
soutn toaay went ssu nappy men term men, a white and a negro,
and women all of them Alabama at Kilby prison, the state's Un
convicts intent upon a "merry gest. ,
Christmas" while their two weeks "it'd be better here," they
"gift paroles" last.
Large and small, negro and
white, the convicts marched
through claging doors to free-
....
" ; kk o y
conduct by Governor B:bb Graves
in a custom of 10 years standing, took along medicine to keep di- letters the skit was "profane,
They're pledged "word of ho- sease from cutting short his indecent and insulting to the
nor" to return when their leave leave. Captain Jack Lindsey, de- American people."
is up. in the past, 20 of the esti- puty warden, handed him a sup- The commission said it had not
mated 4.000 parolees have brok- ply of insulin and a hypodermic prejudged the matter but would
en their word. needle as he left. reserve Judgement until it had
Seven failed to report on time "He'll come back all right, Just the facts,
a year ago and that set a record, like he did last year," said Lins-' Chairman Frank Ft. McNlnch
Once a negro fell below a sey. "He's been here since he was transmitted the demand to of
freight train and lost a Jeg en 17, got sent up for killing a flcfals of the National Broad
route back. From a Tuscaloosa sheriff." casting company. He told them
hospital bed he beggtd doctors Hobbling out, "looking for my that the commission had no right
to tell authorities he'd teen "de- folks," was Jim Oermany, a ne- to censor broadcast but pointed
layed." Two others, at different gro cripple whose legs are off at out a clause prohibiting obscene
I times, lost their lives while "rid- the knees. j language over the radio.
HIGH SCHOOL
PRESENTS PAGEANT
"Christmas Night," a pageant,
was presented by the seventh
grade and high school on Tues
day afternoon at 2 o'clock, under
the supervision of Miss Selma
Johnston, Miss Welch and Miss
Thompson.
The program opened with Rev.
L. E. Elackwelder, of the St,
Mark's Lutheran Church, reading
scripture and offering prayer.
The High School Band, under
the direction of Mr. Babcock, of
Davidson College, played "Silent
Night, Holy Night." This was
their first public appearance.
Miss Bertha Kennedy took the
part of Mary, and DeWitt Trivet
te was Joseph in depicting the
manger scene.
Harmony School
Has An Unusually
Long Honor Roll
The Perfect Attendance and
Honor Rollers of the Harmony
School have been announced. All
grades are represented by a gra
tifying number of students who
have thus demonstrated their in
terest and ability in achieving
this high honor.
These Vminff nonnlo am In
'
congratulated on attaining thi
recoenition
plause that comes to them Th
paper sincerely r ts that
will not pemit listin them
ns well ns similnr Pnllns in ntuor
.. . ? w
cicy ana county schools, but there
are tlmes when tnl3 ls next to'
lmp0Ssible, and this Is one of
them.
L. Lof tin Pinned
Under Horse Which
Fell Into A Ditch
Mr. A. L. Loftin, Statesville,
Route 2, narrowly escaoed seri-
ous injury late Monday afternoon
wnen the horse which he was
riding fen in a ditch and Mr
Loftin was Dinned beneath the
horse. Except for bruises, Mr.;
Loftin apparently is uninjured.
He will remain at Davis Hospi
tal a few days for observation.
Judge Gets Annual
Card From Prisoner
Buffalo, N. Y., Dec. 20. Su
preme Court Justice Alonzo G.
Hinkley, who nine years ago
uuyiwcu a manual, me ben-
tPiir-A nn WaltPr 5,mnmtH qc
.
day his ninth Christmas card
a fourth onenaer. received ves-
from prisoner No. 43,274 at Au-
burn penitentiary.
This time, however, the card
came with an inlaid wooden box,
bearing an intricate series of
designs worked in match sticks,
"The jewel box," said a nota-
tion on Prisoner Sarnowski's
Christmas card,
Hinkley. Season's greetings
ing the rods" as they returned,
Knt anlnor fnHav noro ivm lifo
ww O O WVAWJ T V- A N HIU JliV-
told Warden Frank Boswell, "We
don't have much of anywhere
to go."
But Jumping at a chance of
. . . .. .
m WaS DanlCl (PUddm
Foot) Clennv. a life termer who
k ' J VK "
P A4 " .hpiP ' V
n, N vr4,l til
"IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS?'
0lc: un oepiemoer ao. me eauor or ue ew xorKiside Vedenack's clothing Tues
Evening Sun received a letter from an eight-year-old child, asking dav afterno0n th nrlsnnpr nH.
if there was a Santa Claus. The
,,uu..m.c ic Kir, cava viinsimas iui ine pasi a 'dropped in the wrecked automo
years this letter has been reprinted on the front page of The Sun. !blle by one of tne deputy sheriffs
ft 1G rnnt, irl rtfPrl AHA nf lAiirnoliumV li crista a! nil 4!ma TVn 5 c nnmaM ' .....
. ,,.
pi intert it rast Chrirtnias, and we
seiatru.iine.eucriromvneeniiu.,
"We take pleasure in answer-
I
,n oi. , . .v f, .
1 "B w""c "u luuo I"""'""""?
the commun'cation biw,
pressing at the e time on-
great gratification that its faith-
ful author is numbered amon;
j the friends of the sun:
"Dear Editor:
I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends
1 say there is no Santa Claus
Papa says -If you see t i :
The Sun it's so.'
Please tell me the tr.:th
is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon
115 West 95th Street"
I Virginia, your little friends are
, wrong. They have been affected
,by the skepticism of a skeptical
'age. They do not believe except
they see. They think that nothing
can be which is not comprehen-
sible by their little minds. All
minds, Virginia, whether they bj
mens or emiuren s are little, m
,Wc ...,
" &'-v "" '"3- man i j
a mere Insect, an ant. in his
'
.? ..'T h th
measured by the intelligence ca-
f bt!e Whole f
nuw. .iU.LUSc.
Yes, Virginia there is a Santa
Claus. He exists as certainly ai
love and generosity and devotion
exist, and you know that they
" "is fnr Mr, abound and 8've to your life lts
s greetingsThbr!taAd Ala?!
Uf. H -rnrt rti .n..U i a i
" u,cttlJ KUU1U De me worm
ii incic wc.c iiu ounta uiaus! it
would be as dreary as if there
were no Virginias. There would
,be no childlike faith then, no
! Mae's Radio Talk
Criticized
Washington,
The Federal
D. C, Dec. 17
Communications
commission ordered the National
Broacasting company to submit
' . t.
l TV V
Eve broadcast nf lost EnnHn;
rieht assertin, k V 7 a
n'ent- assertin3 it had received
next day the editor of the Sun
.vc . ....c. p-i-c.
are reprinting it this year, to-j
poetry, no romance to make to
lerable this existence. We should
have no enoJyment, except in
-so ana sigiu. The eternal
light with which childhood fills
the world would be extinguished.
! Not believe in Santa Claus!
You might as well not believe in
fairies! You might get your papa
to hire men to watch in all the
Chimneys on Christmas eve to
catch Santa Claus, but even if
they did not see Santa Claus
'coining down, what would that
prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus,
but that is no sign that there ls class ot '38 chose thelr superla- when we may change the name
no Santa Claus. The most real tives last Thursday. The outcome of the paper without damages to
things in the world are those was tne following: Best all us or inconvenience to our pat
that neither children nor men'round- Lois Howard, Jess Har-'rons.
can see. Did you ever see fairies
dancing on the lawn? Of course
not, but that's no proof that they
are not there. Nobody can con-
ceive all the wonders there are
unseen and unseeable in the
world.
You tear apart baby's rattle
and see what makes the noise
inside, but there is a veil cover-
,,
UiS ine uusei-n woria wnicn not
Hip strniiwst man nr pvon no
" "
U"Ued Stre.ngth f a" the Str0ng-
est men mat ever uvea, couia
tear apart. Only faith, fancy,
r?I"ance' Can pusll
asiue uiui curiam ana view ana
picture the supernal beauty and
glory beyond. Is it real? Ah, Vir-
ginia, in all this world there 1.)
nothing else real and abiding.
i No Santa claus! Thank d
a".d he lives 'orever' A
. . . .
mousana years irom now, virgi-
nia. nay, ten times ten tnousand
years from now, he will continue
to make glad the heart of child-
hood."
SALVATION ARMY
CHRISTMAS DINNER
The Salvation Army Christmas
given for the benefit of
th. underprivileged in this com -
munity will be held Saturday at
12 o'clock noon in the basement
of the First Presbyterian Sunday
uay
School building.
Editorials Today
Athletic Situation at Davidson
An Entirely Wrong Attitude
Mr. Miller, Please!
- He Borrowed Seven Cents
And This IS South Carolina!
News Leader Will
Be Name Adopted
Robert' Vedernack
Had Gun In Jail
Picked Up Officer's Pistol
Following Wreck j
Robert Vedernack, 17-year-old
convict, one of the trio of pri
soners which Sheriff Smoot of
Davie county was conveying to
Newton Monday night when his
car was wrecked on the Mocks
ville road at Crouch's Tavern,
east of Statesville, is being con
fined Thursday in a cell in the
Iredell county Jail. Vedernack,
who claims Pennsylvania as his
native state, was landed in jail
there following the wreck when
Sheriff Smoot and one prisoner
were taken to the Davis hospi
tal and one prisoner escaped.
It was revealed Thursday that
a 32-caliber Smith and Wesson
Distol was fnnnrt rnncpnlpH In.
mitted that he picked up a pistol
It ls understood that he was
planning t0 make his escape
,from jail by means of tne
deadly weapon which he had.
Albert Hager, the prisoner who
escaped at the time of the wreck
'on the Mocksville road Monday
night, had not been taken today.
Sheriff Smoot and the other
prisoner, Jim Coker, who were
injured in the wreck remain at
the hospital.
MOORESV1LLE HIGH
SENIORS CHOOSE
SUPERLATIVES
The Mooresville High School
weu wooing, -oi nowaia,
Howard. Miller; most athletic,
Lois Howard, Jess Harwell; most
courteous, Lucy Lowrance, Ho -
ward Mmer: most popular, Lois
Howard, Grace Alexander (a tie),
Jess Harwell; laziest, Grace Ale-
zander, David Atwell; cutest
6lrl Carolyn Troutman; ladies
ma"- ,L:i' na1'. wuuesi, i.u -
r MnNpplv Wr.H Rnrtror-
""'o- " - -
intellectual, Sarah Taylor. Ho-
..,.. . .
T"?. fjT
'T""uTi.Tr.,. ' '
W. D. Branch (a tie); class flirt,
nJJt LJ0
" .6..,
neatest. EYances Howard. Howard
Mlller- Karl Brager a tie); sil-
liest- Martha Nesbit, David Cres-
,weU: most bashful, Ruth Star-
Rankin McNeely; most stu-
Sk lit lZ.
Hronh' vri?f H itnlflnfl T niivn
u.B".u, u.a
-al uaiBci.
Services on Christmas
Eve at the Troutman
Methodist Church
Troutman, Dec. 20 Special
services will be conducted at
Troutman Methodist church.
Christmas eve. at B an o'clock. At
' this time, the pastor, Rev. Mr.
Vomor will riroanVi onH a nrn.
; gram of Chrlstina' muslc wU1
be rendered. Gifts and treats for
! every member of the Sunday
lBpu, ., Ka utrihtA
School will be distributed.
Every member of the Sunday
school, young and old alike, are
urged to be present and have a
part in this service Firady even
ing In the church auditorium.
Bank Takes Holidays
Mr. C. P. McNeely, cashier of
the First National Bank, states
that the Bank will be closed all
day Saturday, Christmas day.
It will als close one week front
( Saturday, New Tear's Day. .
To Be Effective
On January 6th
Many Reasons Given For
Dropping The Name
"The Rounder"
(BY THOMAS McKNIGHT)
When the writer purchased a
half interest in this publication
two years ago he was cognizant
of the fact that its name, The
Rounder, was hardly the proper
one for a journal that hoped to
become a dignified newspaper.
At that time we discussed with
dozens of people the advisability
of changing the name. The bulk
of opinion gleaned from these
discussions was to the effect it
was not the opportune moment.
There were several reasons for
this" opinion. In t- irs place,
we were not yet a newspaper,
but a small four-column hand
bill distributed free, and having
no postal recognition. In the se
cond place, another such publi
cation, the Free Press, had been
spawned in our miast. it was a
well known fact that both publi
cations could not survive. Since
The Rounder had a two-year
start on the new publication, it
was deemed wise to make use of
its familiar name at that time.
The situation is quite different
, today. Within two years we have
become a bona fide newspaper
with legal recognition, have con
solidated with another weekly,
and have the largest circulation
of any newspaper in any field
published in Iredell county. After
17 issues the Free Press gave up
the struggle. We can see no rea-
son why the time has not arrived
i The questi0n may be asked,
,What's wrong with the name,
Tne Rounder?" There are many
! answerS( one 0f the best being
found in Webster's unabridged
diCtiCionary .Says the dictionary
'concerning the definition of
..rounder: (1) -a .tool used to
an object rouild ln snape."
i(2) -one who makes the rounds
.of criminal or disreputable re-
ii..i.
, h-u...,
a loush' disso,ute idler" " may
, e just "One Man's Opinion," but
the writer feels that the defini-
! t,ons d "0t fit this ewsPaPer-
Thg name has 0ften been a
t Qf much embarrassment
? tQ UJ Frequently we get letters
j addrPssed t0 ..Tne Roundup or
Eounder whether thev
fee ho' er
' no way of knowing.
errors, we have
" o t"
embarrassing moment came
last year at the Duke-Colgate
game. We were riding with Jake
Wade, Alan Gould, and Ted Hus
ing from the hotel to the Duke
stadium. Just back of the stadium
and behind the press and radio
boxes is a space reserved for the
press cars. At the entrance to
the lane leading to this space' a
policeman Is statdoned. When
Jake stopped for identification
the policeman recognized him
but glanced questionably at Ted,
Alan and me. Said Jake, nodding
at each of us in turn: "Mr.
Gould of the Associated Press,
Mr. Husing of the Columbia
Broadcasting Company, and Mr.
McKnight of the uh, uh, of the
Observer." When we had passed
out of hearing range of the cop
Jake turned to us and said, "Tom,
why ln the hell don't you change;
the name of that paper of yours!
Jake certainly had something
there!
Not only is the name a source
of frequent social embarrassment
but it has worked against us in
the matter of soliciting national
(Continued, on Page Eight)