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II JnlJtSi VOL. XI ELIZABETH CITY, N. C, FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 1919 A GOOD ROADS PROGRAM Welcome and Thank You! THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 0' 1919 MADE GOOD RECORD If 1 THAT SPELLS PROSPERITY Pasquotank Will Not Be Content With One Inter 1 53 state Highway Transportation Problems Demand Dismal Swamp Route Too Northeastern North Carolina now is practically assured of the construction of a permanent hard surfaced highway beteween the Albemarle Sound and the Virginia line, connecting the county seats of Chowan, Perqui mans, Pasquotank, Camden and Currituck. It is absolutely cer tain that Pasquotank county will spend a half million dollars within the next twelve months i -A the construction of hard sur faced roads in this county. But we must not permit our enthus iasm to abate; we have only be gun the great work of knitting together the peoples of north eastern North Carolina and tide water Virginia with a system of good and durable highways. It is not enough that we should have a modern highway into and out of Norfolk, Va.; we should tap Norfolk county from another direction, have a highway into the city of Portsmouth by way of the Dismal Swamp Canal and unite the county of Gates to the county of Pasquotank .by build ing from this highway into Gates. The foregoing: is in part the message delivered by Mr. Saunders to an au dience at. the Alkrama Theatre Wed nesday ngiht. Mr. Saunders delivered something of the same message to the City Council of the City of Portsmouth, Va. Tuesday night. Mr. Saunders told the Couneilmen of Portsmouth that Pasquotank would build a hard surfaced road from Elizabeth City to the Camden county line at a point near South MiUs; that South Mills township, to be bond ed for $50,000, will continue that high way from Pasquotank along the Dismal Swamp Cai-tor;to From there on the Jtask of completing the highway into the city of Portsmouth is the task of the city of Portsmouth and the County of Norfolk. The coun ty of Norfolk is interested; an appro vriation of $20,000 from the city of Portsmouth will clinch the matter. TV. L. Cohoon, of Elizabeteh . City, and "W. I. Halstead, of South Mills, followed Mr. Sounders in addressing the Ports mouth Couneilmen. The Council will pass upon the question of an appropria tion as soon they get an opinion from their attorney assuring them of the legality of such an act. Every progressive man, woman and child in Pasquotank, Camden and every other northeastern North Carolina county should get behind this Dismal Swamp Highway project. It means a shorter route to Norfolk from Elizabeth City, by ten miles. It means a route that does not cross a rail road track tin's side of the Virginia line. And a shorter distance route to Nor folk means much more to Elizabeth City than a road that will enable peo ple to gret to Norfolk; it means greater transportation facilities for northeastern North Carolina. It will ever affect the prosperity and general welfare of the people of the lower sounds. Did you know that it is with the greatest diffi culty that the fishermen of Dare county; who ship their fish to market thru this city, get their fish from Eliza hKh City to the rail road and steam ship terminals of Norfolk. Right now we are running a special train thrice week from Elizabeth City to Norfolk to haii.iie these fish. That train may '. i.iken off any -day and. rail road ( -heiiules can not be easily arranged to : i onnection with the north bound U;.h:s ;inl steamers from Norfolk. The ! -'Herman has got to get his fish to ia -trket the clay after they are caught i" iy means bad fish and a loss ol UiouhhikLs of dollars. Hut .suppose we had, say, cement 10 ids between Elizabeth City and Nor t"ik. Instead of special trains secured with great difficulty for the transporta tion of perishable food stuff, we would l ive fast motor trucks to handle this business. Trains are cumbersome and offer vexing problems of loading, un loading and transferring. The big motor truck, even a 20 ton truck, is an independent, flexible unit that wastes no time. A special train does well to make one trip of 40 miles in a day; a motor truck can make the trip several t imes over. The motor truck will solve the tran sportation problems of northeastern North Carolina when we get roads on which motor trucks can travel with "ifety and speed. The motor truck will carry the produce of these counties to market and bring back much of the perishable and semi-perishable food stuff which we buy from the outside market. We are at the beginning of a great t-ru of industrial; agricultural and com mercial development in northeastern North Carolina; a development that ' arries with it better schools, better social conditions and more of the life worth livine:. Elizabeth Citv should eel proud of the part it is playing in! i his develonment and Elizabeth City will reap many rewards for her sressive efforts. pro SOMEDISTRICT HIGHWAY FACTS An Analysis of Senator Fere- bee's District High way Act Total length of road, from the Albe marle Sound at Edenton to the Vir ginia State line at a point near Moyock, 49 miles. Total cost of cost of road, including free public bridge over Pasquotank river at or near Elizabeth City, $1, 000,000. Amount of cost to be borne by the state and national governments, $500,000. Amount of cost to be borne by property owners along the right of way of road, $250,000. Amount of cost to be borne by a bond issue upon the district, $250,000, with 25 years in which to pay it. Total amount of bond issue to be borne by the county of Pasquotank will be about $110,000. . Pasquotank, while bearing the greater part of the burden of taxation, is real ly not burdened at all. Because under this Federal aid project it helps its neighbors, gets six miles of road from Little River to Eilzabeth City and gets a free bridge across Pasquotank river. If Pasquotank did not come in on this scheme it would have to build a road from Little River to Elizabeth City anyway; and if it built the kind of road contemplated under this district plan, it would cost the county $120, 000, and it would still pay tolls over a privately owned bridge across Pas quotank river. Persons in the upper and lower ends of Pasquotank county who think they will be unjustly taxed to pay for a road running thru the center of the 'county, have simply overlooked the fact they would have to pay for this road anvwav. ' extra tax burden on Pasqquotank county. We simply take the money ; we would put into one stretch of road anyway, and put it into a Federal aid project which gets the -egad and a long list of other benefits. The proposed northeastern North Caro lina district has the approval of the State Highway Commission. In fact the idea came from the State High way Commission and Senator Fere bee's bill was drawn along lines sug guested by tha body. The first counties to get state and fed eral aid under the new state road law which passed the General Assembly this week, will be the counties em braced in this district, these being the first counties to launch a project with the approval of the State Highway Commission. The road it is proposed to build will be of government standard cement construction and the road will be 20 feet wide. If it is decided to build a narrower road the cost will be ma terially reduced. Should the commis sion decide to build a 16 foot road the project will cost much less than $1,000,000. With all of these facts in evidence, can any one offer intelligent opposition to the project? Pasquotank has reached out and literally cemented her neighboring counties to her in a project which lifts the whole district out of the mud, enhances the value of every foot of real estate in five counties and puts northeast-srn North Carolina on the good roads map of America. BIG STOCK OF PIANOS FOR A SPECIAL SALE Duff Piano Co. Assembles Largest Ex hibit of Pianos Ever Seen in This Section Postively the largest stock of pianos eever displayed in this section has been gotten together by the Duff Piano Co. of this city for a special sale which that firm will conduct on Monday, March 17. It is stated that the stock is larger than all the stocks ever assembled by all the dealers in this territory at any one time. And if price is a consideration, the prices announced for this sale are way below the usual offerings. The sale even includes phonograph records and needles, all priced at less than whole sale prices. Piano manufacturers and dealers,, for patriotic reasons, did not push the sale of their goods during the war. Now that the war is over they. seem inclined to want to make up for lost time. The Duff Piano Co. sale should prove a stimulant to the business in this section and put pianos in scores of homes that are now without them The sale starts Monday and will end when the last piano is sold, be it on that day or some day next week. adv. Mrs. M. Bell Blount, Principal, Miss Mary Sitterson, Assistant. This school erave this week to the little starving children across the sea, the sum of $12.25 and their best wishes go with the amount given. POTATi) CROP IS COMING UP SHORT High Seed, High Fertilizer, Shortage of Labor and Uncertain Future N. Howard Smith, manager of the Carolina Potato Exchange, who is one of the best informed men on the po tato situation in eastern North Caro lina, predicts that the early Irish po tato crop in northeastern North Caro lina this summer will be equivalent to sixty per cent of last year's crop. Mr. Smith is in close touch with the grow ers, especially in the counties of Pas quotank, Camden and Currituck and his predictions usually are safe. Early in the season it was predicted that the potato- crop in this section would be fully 75 per cent, of last year. Seed potatoes at $6 a bag, ferti izer at $70 a ton, farm labor at $2.50 a day and no labor in sight at that, had a deferent effect upon the potato grow er. Then too the drop in the price of peanuts and cotton and pork may have foreshadowed a drop in the price of other farm produce. The growers have moved cautiously, hesitating to put in any considerable acreage. Some of the larger growers refused to plant at all; others have increased their acreage upon the strength of the assured de crease in the acreage of their neigh bors. It is hard to forecast the prospects for a sweet potato crop. Xiast year the sweet potato growers couldn't get slips for planting and there was a shortage of labor such as this country has never seen. But this yeear the growers in Camden and Cvirrituck have an abund ance of slips and have enough bedded to make a crop twice as large as last year's. The sweet potato crop is now waiting on the labor question. If the growers can force an adequate labor supply, even at prevailing wages, northeastern North Carolina will mark et a bumper crop of sweets this sum mer. But the North Carolina growers are in a ticklish situation. They have put in and will put in their 1919 crops on a war-time basis. Every item entering into the cost of production has been purchased at top prices. To make any thing at all on their crops the growers must get high prices. Any successful bear movement would play havoc with the growers. All of this means that the growers in this section need or ganization a never before. Without or ganization they can not protect them selves in normal times; these abnorm al times certainly demand advanced or ganization directed by the best brains in the country. PRIZE PORKERS J. H. Aydlett killed two porkers on his farm near Weeksville, "Wednesday, and the two dressed weighed 1.300 pounds. The largest, weighing 750 lbs., was a big bone Poland China. The next largest, a Duroc Jersey, weighed 550.. Mr. Aydlett is acquiring some fame as a farmer and stock grower. He has just given the double vaccine treat ment to 120 thorobred pigs on his farm. "Want ads on page 8 this week. SAUNDERS RETURNS FROM THE GENERAL SHAD MAY BE SHORT JBUT PRICES ARENT North Carolina Shad Fishermen Get ting Good Returns For Their (mduet . North Carolina shad have sold for 28 cents to 40 cents a pound on the east ern markets this week, tjie lower price being for bucks, the fancy price for roes. The fishermen are not making big catches peculiar to former years: but the fancy prices obtainable may offset this effect. There is no let up in the demand for North Carolina shad and many Pulton St. New York, and Dock St. Philadelphia, market mer chants have their solicitors in the field. Most of the shad caught in these waters are sold or consigned to dealers whose ads are found in this newspaper. A special train, secured largely thru the efforts of the Atlantic Coast Fish eries Co. and "Wallace & Keeney Co., of New York, takes fish from Elizabeth City thrice a week, making connection with "Washington, Baltimore and New York steamers at Norfolk. Shad taken from these waters early yesterday morning, for instance, are on the New York market this afternoon and on sale at 2 o'clock to-morrow morning. TWO BIGAMISTS FACE JURY HERE NEXT WEEK Henry Lefferts Eischter, a young sol dier who was married here in Novem ber, was committed to the county jail this week in default of $1,000 bond, on a charge of bigamy. This gives the i Superior Court two bigamy cases to try when it convenes here next Monday, March 17. Romaine Brace, a comely young naval officer, has been in jail here for several months, awaiting trial on a similar charge. Both of these young men, having been taken away from civil life and home environments to serve the colors, found it rather con venient to take on new wives. North Carolina's lax marriage laws and the proximity of Elizabeth City to the Nor folk naval base gave them the oppor tunity to get into trouble. C. P. HARRIS ACQUIRES AN INTEREST IN McCABE & GRICE An announcement of interest in local mercantile circles this week concerns the purchase of a ninth interest by C. P. Harris, in the firm of McCabe & Grice. McCabe & Grice is one of the oldest and most successful wholesale and retail dry goods houses in Elizabeth City and eastern North Carolina. Mr. Harris has been connected with the business since 1908, having charge of the books end office work. He has been a faithful and efficient employe and his acquisition of a financial interest in the business is what often happens when a thrifty and conservative em ploye shows his capacity to carry a good part of the burdens of his em ployers. GOV. BICKETT COMING Governor T. "W. Bickett will address the Negroes of Elizabeth City and vic inity on April 7, 1919, the occasion being the 300th. anniversary of the trans planting of the Negro race from Africa to America, The event will be cele brated on an elaborate scale by the colored people of northeastern North Carolina. , - . ASSEMBLY EAGER TO START BUILDING ROADS Pasquotank Comm i s s i o n Thinks There Should Be No Delays It is the intention of the Pas quotank Highway Commission to lose no time in getting under way with the project of issuing bondsvand spending $500,000 in the construction of roads in Pasquotank county. The commission held its first meeting Monday afternoon and elected "W. J. Woodley chairman. The other members of the commission are O. P. Gilbert, J. J. Morris, A. B. Houtz and J. "W. Fore man. Before attempting to do anything, the commission will get a conference with engineers of the State Highway Commission and get all road building information and suggestions available from that source. In meantime the commission will make careful study of different types of road paving material and will consider the employment af a capable engineer to superintend the building of permanent roads. It is altogether too early to talk about where the roads will be built, but it is pretty certain that the com mission will first take up the proposi tion of building a road from "Weeks ville to Hinton's Corner via Elizabeth City, giving the coiyity a main high way connecting the upper and lower parts of the county. The commission will not concern itself with the Desert road, which is the road connecting Elizabeth City with Perquimans Coun ty, because that road will be taken care of in the district highway project. This leaves more money for road build ing in other parts of Pasquotank. EAGER FOR BONDS Pasquotank will have no trouble in disposhg of its proposed $500,000 issue of road bonds. Bond buyers all over the country are besieging the Highway Commissioners of Pasquotank for in formation as to terms and date of sale. First Citizens National Bank state ment on page 12. AN UNUSUAL SERVICE The country is full of good eve snecialists and there are hundreds of good eye glass man ufacturers, but it is worth some thing to Elizabeth City and vi- ninitv to know that both can De found in this town. Dr. Hatha way is not only a reputable and skillful optometrist, out ne grinds and 'fits glasses on his remises. This unusual service is seldom found except in much larger cities. DR. I. D. HATHAWAY OPTOMETRIST Over McCabe & Grice Elizabeth City, N. C. Not as Progressive as Was Desired, But it Moved The State Forward on Health, Education, Roads And Taxation Problems A fairly comprehensive review of the work of the General Assembly of 1919, which concluded its session this week, is given by John A. Livingston in the ruueign mews & voserver.. it tollows: Measured by magnitude of results ac- complished. the most imnortant spssinn i i of the General Assembly in a decade has virtually passed into history. Legis lation furnishing machinery for revalu ation of all taxable property was its most' noteworthy achievement; provi sion for a six months school term in every community in North Carolina its most praiseworthy act. Submission to the people of the in come tax amendment to the State con stitution opens the way to a new era In the economic history of the common- weaitn wmie tne inauguration of a State-wide system of highways is the outstanding feature of the session from a material standpoint. Strengthening of thS public health laws comes as a direct result of lessons .learned in a of the public health laws comes as a world war. It Kept the Faith The General Assembly didn't do all that was expected of it nor did it go further than to reflect, perhaps im perfectly at times, the wishes and de sires of enlightener public opinion Thanks to the efforts 'of wise and con servative leaders, it kept the faith and rendered service that merits the ap proval of the people of the State. The legislators go home with the con sciousness of having set in motion new forces for the development of the Tar Heel State, which if intelligently dir ected will make for great progress and development. Not Ready to Pioneer. "While the General Assembly was too firmly wedded to ancient ideas to rag- spond to the demand for equal suffrage its passage in the Senate and the close ness of the vote in the House showed that even here a distinct advance had been made in progressive thought, as compared with the session of two. years ago. Had the supporters of suffrage started early in the session with consis tent purpose, it is entirely possible that equal municipal 1 suffrage - would have session in falling to pass its measure missed its greatest opportunity to show its progressiveness and this in the fu ture will be charged against it as an unwarranted ultra-conservatism. Again the General Assembly was too firmly committed to conservative thought to call a constitutional conven tion. It wasv realized that the present document is out of date and should be superseded by a more workable one. but the legislators as a whole didn t want to disturb things too much. The Senate passed this bill but it died in. the House. The House never gave the Senate an opportunity to act on any of the pro posed safeguards for the better enforce ment of prohibition- laws Practically all of these measures were defeated and here again the Legislature was derelict to its trust. The Most Forward Step. The revaluation program was worked out under the direction of Representa tive Rufus A. Doughton, chairman of the House Finance committee, and Senator James A- Gray, chairman of the Senate Finance committee. They had the help and co-operation of Cor poration Commissioner A. J. Maxwell and so completely and so thoroughly was their work done that the bill was passed exactly as reported by the com mittee and without discussion on the floor of either house. Never before perhaps has such an epochal bill been ?nacted into law by unanimous co.isrnt in this State unless in times of war or of dire necessity. Speaker Brummitt did his best day's work when he named Govern6r Doughton to head this com mittee and Senator Gray, able young banker, proved to be a running mate worthy of his veteran colleague. -New Educational Program. In the educational program aimed specifically to secure a six months school term a wide divergence of opin ion existed at the beginning of the ses sion as to the methods to follow. It was no easy task that faced Represen tative Victor S. Bryant and Senator F. C. Harding, chairmen of the respective Education committees, but with won derful tact they reconciled conflicting opinions and brought the warring ele ments together. In forming this pro gram the guiding hands of J. Y. Joy ner, retiring State Superintendent, of Public Instruction, and of Dr. E. C. Brooks, the present superintendent, ren dered great service. The income tax amendment directly jibes with the provisions for revaluing taxable property and in fact is con sidered an indispensible feature of the new program of taxation in North Caro lina, It was brought into the House by Governor Doughton, who has justly earned the title of "the grand old man of the General Assembly". He cham pioned the measure and left nothing in the way to hinder its thorough con sideration by the people. Roads Bothered Much. The General Assembly had most trou ble in getting a State road law into shape and while the law finally enacted for the present does not seem to meet the wishes of anybody in many particu lars, it is predicted , that it will eventu- to a large part of the people. It was "'. upon this measure that the General ' Assembly devoted most discusion and " gave "the most time. Senators Scales-; &nd Stevens were the pioneer champions of a State system when it was consid ered doubtful if the General Assembly, Would try a hand at it, and a host of legislators have worked at it since. The Senate stood for a State-wide svstem while the House was committed to a county system with State and Federal aid. The result is a compromise in which the State system is retained with optional county aid. "While not au thorizing a bond issue it is provided that money may be borrowed. The law as finally passed represents the best efforts of a conference committee. It was Governor Doughton that put it across 4n the House when it looked like no bill could get through that the Senate would endorse. The health legislation, approved by the State Health Board and the "War Department provides - for radical' changes in the control of venereal dis eases and for inspection. Senator Senator Joseph A. Brown and Repre sentative Stanley "Winborne headed the respective Health .committees and en countered ,little opposition in putting these measures through. However, had there been a fight made, they , would have proven worthy opponents. - : Able Presiding Officers. Speaker Dennis G. Brummitt was happy in the selection of his com mittees in the House and they worked in hearty accord to putthrought a pro gressive program of legislation. Scarce ly any friction was encountered and this is., a most excellent record when the : magnitude of legislation passed is con- ; sidered. Practically every chairman was the right man for the right place. Speaker Brummitt was actuated in his appointments by a desire to organize a working body that would serye the ' State. Speaker Brummitt proved him self to be a presiding officer of ex ceptional ability. His decisions were rendered with impartiality and fairness '. to all concerned . while - his conduct of members. . ' . '- . ....' Lieut. Gov. O. Max. Gardner was equally happy in the organization of the Senate and never at any time was there friction of any consequence. Never once during the session did any one question the justness of his de cisions while acting as presiding officer He had the advantage of being well ac quainted with public affairs and with the personnel of the Senate. His com mittee assignments were thoroughly considered by him with a view to secur ing a maximum of service by putting the proper man in the right place, and the Senate's record shows he exercised excellent judgment. Their Thankless Task Chairmanship of an Appropriations committee is ordinarily a thankless job because it is never possible to please everybody but Senator George Holder ness and Representative R. S. McCoin, who headed the respective committees of the Senate and House, are exceptions to the rule. They had the task of properly distributing more than five million dollars among the various State, insititutions and this required careful . thought and study. Both were well fitted for the place, Senator Holderness being an banker and farmer while Re presentative McCoin is a lawyer and business man. -Increased Pensions. It fell to th lot of the Appropriations committee to find a way to increase the pensions of the Confederate veter ans of the State. They couldn't see the way clear to make it a million a year, but they brought it up to nearly $700,000, as compared with $525,000, which was paid out last year. In connection with the road legisla tion it is interesting to note the esti- imate that between 60 and 70 million I dollars . were authorized in bonds for , public roads in the various counties of the state during the next two years. The road committees, headed by Sena tor Ferebee and by Col. Bennehan Cam eron, rendered faithful service. Little Partisanship. A notable feature of the General As sembly was the lack of partisanship . exhibited in the discussions. Not once during the Senate sessions were parti sanship fights encountered and only once in the House. The utmost good feeling existed between Democrats and (Concluded on Page 12) TIME FOR INCOME TAX RETURNS ABOUT UP To-day is practically the last day in which to get in your income tax re turns. Tour statement and a check for at least one fourth of the amount of tax you must pay must be in the hands of the Collector of Internal Revenue, in Raleigh, tomorrow, Saturday night. Failure to get your returns in the Raleigh office by that time means trou ble for you. , "When you buy a shotgun to get that chicken hawk, make sure it's a Rem ington, adv. M14-2t Norfolk markets on Page 12. .1 mm mm -V-3 th-B - : .4 J i n ' I T- 11' V I' i :y it, t i 9 'A H : f r it - In : . 1 in - Si r - 'I ; i f - - . " . :t'"fc if ; i If- m. m m 1 v. 1 '..V ...