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. . v VOL. XIV. NO. 691. FUN, FROLIC WHEN GO AST GUARD GOME Throngs Will See Hydroplanes Assist in Rescue In Mimic Shipwreck, While Cinema Cam eras Grind Other Stunts With flags flying, band playing, airplanes hovering overhead and everybody out for . a good time! Elizabeth City will welcome the annual convention of the Surf men's Mutual Benefit Associa tion which meets in this .city Tuesday, June 28, .Elizabeth City has had several of these conventions before and every one of them has been the occasion of a great holiday. - The Surfmen's Mutual Benefit Asso ciation, organized right here in Eliza beth City nearly a quarter of a century ago, is a fraternal, benevolent and pro tective organization composed entirely of men in the U. S. Coast Guard or life saving service. These seasoned veterans of the surf are friendly, frolicsome and full of pep. "When they come they not only graciously receive entertainment, but they do a bit' of entertaining on their own account. They will entertain Elizabeth City next Tuesday with, a tuimber of spectacular exhibitions, show ing just" how they work in actual ser vice. Commodore W. E. Reynolds himself, commandant of all the Coast Guard, af fectionately known as The Old Man (tho he is hardly 50), will leave his desk in Washington and come down to see the Coast Guard pat on their stunts. The Fox Film Co., producers and dis tributors of news film 8 will have their camera men to get moving pictures of these exhibitions, the first of their kind ever made for the screen. These pic tures will be shown in every moving picture theatre in America. With both The Old Man and the mov-J ins picture men here to watch them, the men of the Coast Guard are determined to give the biggest show possible. Picked crews, composed of men who feave participated in the saving of lives from many of the worst wrecks record ed in the annals of the service, will man the life boats and other life-saving Apparatus. One of the crews will be in charge of John Allen Midgett who was decorated by the King of England for the heroism of himself and men in brav ig sea of fire to rescue the crew of a British oil tanker which was de stroyed by a German submarine off the North Carolina coast during the world war. Tuesday The Big Day Tuesday will be the feature day of the Surfmen's Meet. The day's doings will commence at two o'clock with a duck race, for -which everybody will be eligible. A number of ducks will be re leased at a point on the river bank, and the contestants will swim after them. The prizes for the winners will be the ducks themselves. Each swimmer will be permitted to keep all that he can capture. The beach gear apparatus will be brought into play at 2:30 and the spec tators will be shown the life savers' way of rescuing the crew of a stranded schooner, with a real vessel anchored in Pasquotank River in full view of all. A crew from the Fifth District will compete with an outfit from this, the Seventh District, in the various drills and races of the day. At 2:45 the two U. S. Coast Guard hydroplanes, sched uled to arrive here Monday, will go thru a series of demonstrations which will include- the carrying of shot lines to the "sinking" schooner in the river, showing the application of the latest development of aircraft in life saving operations. A second beach gear drill will be given at 3:30, and tins win De followed by a race between two surf boats, manned by eight rowers each, over a mile course. At a point in this race, the crews- will overturn the boats, right and bale them, climb in and com plete the race, demonstrating ; their training for an accident that may hap pen at any time in a heavy sea. Meanwhile, the crowds will be regaled with music bv Ziegler's band, under the leadership of F. R. Hufty, director of the Elizabeth City Choral Society. Huf ty is something of a musical genius, and can be depended upon to make the band's part of the day's celebration a success. The baseball teams of Hert ford and Edenton, the two fastest non league baseball outfits" in this part of the State, will play on the local dia mond Tuesday afternoon, and a hard: fought contest is indicated, because this game will break an existing tie in ganjes won by the contesting aggregations. A Thrilling Race. Another feature of Tuesday afternoon will be a race between a hydroplane, skimming the surface of the water, and a high-powered motor boat, both cap able of a sped of 45 to 50 miles an hour under the conditions of the race, which do not permit the airship to rise clear of the river. Crack swimmers will also compete for the championship of the Coast Guard Service, and a ludi crous touch will be added in the tub race, in which contestants will endeavor to best each other in tubs, paddling with their hands. There will also be a tilt ing contest between rival crews in ca noes, the objective of each crew being to capsize its opponents' craft, with long poles as weapons. On Tuesday night, the visiting life savers will be tendered a banquet at the Southern Hotel. The business sessions of the meet will continue thru Wednes ( Continued on Page 12.) Entered m Second Class Matter at the ""mmm - u.. jnna . AND THRILLS NOW A MEMBER OF THE FISHERIES COMMISSION W. O. SAUNDERS THE editor of this newspaper becomes a member of the North Carolina Fish erles Commission under a commission issued by Governor Morrison under date of June 18, 1921. Mr. Saunders" ap pointment is for a term of four years, beginning June 1,1921. In the appoint ment of this Elizabeth City man to a position of unusual importance to east era North Carolinians Governor Morri son has again indicated his interest in Elizabeth City and the- northeastern counties. FREE CONCERT BY CHORAL SOCIETY Public To Be Given a Rare Treat at Courthouse To-Night Elizabeth City will enjoy a rare free musical treat to-night in a concert to be given at the courthouse by the Eliz abeth City Choral Society. A picked chorus of 25 voices will render a num ber of selections and there will be sev eral solos, duets and quartet ntrmbers, including the Rigoletto quartet number to be sung by Mrs. Joe Greenleaf, Mrs. W. P. Duff, L. E. Skinnef and Frank R. Hufty. The purpose of the concert is to bring together a large audience of Elizabeth City people to tell them about the plans of the Choral Society and enlist their co-operation and support. As the Chor al Society isn't begging for anything, no one need stay away thru a fear of hav ing their bank accounts conscripted. The Choral Society is a community organization and will succeed or fail ac cording to -he community interest in, it. The meeting to-night will better ac quaint the public with the plans and aspirations of the Choral Society and, incidentally, the audience will receive a great musical treat for which no admis sion will be charged. FIRST STEPS TAKEN IN COUNTRY CLUB PROJECT Committees Appointed to Canvass for Members and Locate Available Sites Preliminary steps looking to the or ganization of a Country Club in Eliza beth City were taken Wednesday after noon at a meeting of a dozen or more country club enthusiasts in the lounge of the CLumber of Commerce. It was the sense of the meeting that no per manent organization be attempted until the city has been canvassed for pros pective membership and the largest possible number of people interested. Two committees were appointed at Wednesday's meeting. One of these committees will make a canvass for memberships, to determine just how many people are interested. The other committee will locate available sites. An other meeting to be called in a few days will determine future action. Among those present at Wednesday's meetings were W. A. Worth, C. O. Rob inson, N. Howard Smith, S. B.- Parker, Dr. Wm. Parker, Miles Clark, W. G. Gartner, W. P. Duff, Mrs. F. V. Scott, Mrs. W. A. Worth and Mrs C. W. Hol lowell. W. A. Worth was elected chairman and R. C. Job secretary of the tem porary organization. STRAIGHTENING OUT CITY'S BOOK-KEEPING ' A. Lee Rawlins & Co., expert public accountants of Norfolk are making an audit of the books of the city of Eliza beth City for the purpose of unraveling its tangled finances and installing a book-keeping system that will enable a city official of average intelligence to ascertain at any time just where the city "is at" financially. It is admitted that the city's book-keeping system has been altogether inadequate and the audi tors are going back seven years to get things straight. North Carolina ranks second in the enlisted and commissioned, strength of the eight Southern States in the Fourth Corps area and only Georgia, with the big city of Atlanta to draw from, is ahead of North Carolina. ELIZABETH 1808 CROWLEY HAS NO FEAR OF PIRATES Coast Guard Superintendent Scouts Theory of Pirates Taking Ships Off Car- " ' olina Coast 3 Theories that Russian pirates operating- with a craft of the German U-Boat type are respon sible for the mysterious disap pearance of several ships and the wreck of the schooner Carrol A. Deering on Cape Lookout, are scouted by Capt. R. T. Crowley, superintendent of the Seventh District Coast Guard with head quarters in this city. All sorts of wild rumors started after fhe Deering went ashore several weeks ago. The Deering, a big five mast schooner went ashore in one of the worst storms of the year. The Coast Guard could not get within half a mile of her and revenue cutters could not get so near, until the storm abated. When the Coast Guard did reach the Deering tjjey found no one aboard. Her small boats were gone, indicating that the crew had tried to get away in the storm and had been carried to watery graves. Capt. Crowley thinks that is just what did happen. But a few days later Christopher C. Gray of the Cape Hatteras station picked up a bottle containing a scrawled message purporting to have been writ ten by a member of the Deering's crew. The bottle message read as fol lows: "Deering captured by oilburning boat something like chaser. Taking off everything. Handcuffing crew. Crew hiding all over ship. No chance to make escape. Finder please notify headquar ters of Deering." Supt. Crowley who investigated the wreck of the Deering has seen the mes sage and the bottle in which it was contained. He places no credence in it, since no name was signed to it and it bears all the ear marks of so. many,, sim ilar bottle messages that are a common trick of practical jokers and idle persons who find pleasure in mystifying and ex citing the public with such things. In meantime newspaper men with lively imaginations continue to write harrowing stories about pirates and Bolsheviks on the Carolina Coast. Tues day's News & Observer carried the fol lowing scare under a Washington,' D. C. te line: "Visions of Bolshevik pirate crews sailing Cape Hatteras waters in true, swasb-buckling, Spanish main style, are beginning to haunt -the minds of fisher folk dwelling along the shore. Secretary Hoover has been asked to take a hand in solving the mystery of four coasting craft vanished com pletely in fine weather. A short time ago a schooner rammed into the sand, bars at the cape with all sail set and her people missing. No explanation of the disappearance has been found. Now, with three other craft mysteri ously gone, natives along the coast hint darkly at crews of piratical Rus sians hovering at sea just over the skyline to seize peaceful merchant men." Capt. Crowley says he knows nothing of four coasting craft mysteriously dis appearing. His office keeps painstak ing records of every shipping disaster between Cape Henry and Cape Lookout. The fate of the crew of the Carrol A. Deering is easily explained in light of the facts; their was in all probability the fate of many another gallant crew that has tried to save itself in a storm before the arrival of the Coast Guard. $1,300 FOR A NEW FOUR MAST SCHOONER That's What Roanoke Islanders Pay For What's Left of a Beautiful Ship f The big, four mast schooner Laura A. Barnes which went ashore off Bo dies ISland on the North Carolina Coast two weeks ago, worth probably a half million dollars before she stuck in the sands of Currituck beach, has been sold to a group of Roanoke Island business men for a paltry $1,300, according to reports reaching this city. The pur chasers are said to be headed by Theo. S. Meekins, of Manteo. Rut the purchasers will not realize anything like the worth of the ship. The ship itself can not be saved. The pur chasers must content themselves with salvaging the schooner's fittings. But even at this they will recover a good ly snm The ship's anchors and chains alone represent a handsome figure. The ships' boats, including one trim new power launch with a Lathrop engine will bring god money. And then there is the ship's wheel, compass, sails, rigging, masts, interior woodwork and rafts of other movable odds and ends that will bring up the total. Wallace Tj. Twiford, postmaster and merchant at Mashoes, Dare county, died Sunday morning, June 19, at Sarah Leigh Hospital in Norfolk, where he had gone for an operation following an illness of several weeks. He is sur vived by two sisters, Mrs. S. T. Pinner and Miss Zanie Twiford, of East Lake; three brothers, William Twiford, of East Lake, W. M. Twiford and Romie Twi ford, of Mashoes. Interment was made at the Methodist burial ground at East Lake, where Mr. Twiford's boyhood days were spent. He was 51 years of age. ' , . ' $1.00 bill sent by mail at our risk brings you THE INDEPENDENT for eight months. It's your move. Port-offlc CITY, N. C V FRIDAY, JUNE Taks High Honors in Music X il a i 1 ..MSB! S I I MISS EMERALD SYKES MISS SYKES is an Elizabeth City girl whose musical talent is being heard from. She recently graduated in piano and pipe organ at the Fayetteville Con servatory of Music. - Speaking of her graduation the Fayetteville Observer said: "The graduation of Miss Sykes is the first of the new year and if tip recital last night is to be taken as an earnest of future events of similar char acter, fhe friends of the institution and the Fayetteville public generally have reason to expect a future of the greatest promises for the Conservatory of Music."' Miss Sykes Is a graduate of the Elizabeth City High School; studied music at Meredith In 1918-19 and left Meredith to follow her teachers who went to Fayetteville. She was two years at Fayetteville. She is a daugh ter of Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Sykes of this city. LOSTC SELL THE BONDS While Waiting For Aydlett's Orders, School Board Loses One Chance To Sell Failure of the Board of School Trustees of Elizabeth, City to meet on Fridajjae 10, ... 1921, forfeited " the one opportunity to sell $140,000 of school bonds and now there is no buyer for the uuiiUa. x.lt -" - ly attractive offer ffom a west- ern bond buyer, thru the First & fTTA 1JLT&1I OL. 1U Citizens National Bank of this aBecn u"t. lue. uere never heard of him and inquiries in many City. But the school board WOUld directions here have failed to identify not meet to consider the offer be- i the youth. There are several boys miss cause E. F. Aydlett, chairman of from Elih City at this time, J ' ytiiut none by the name of Gray. the board, was out of town, and he left no instructions for calling a meeting. There are sixteen men on the school board and not one of them seemed to dare to make a move in the absence of the chairman. In meantime the bond market went to pieces and taking advantage of the tardiness rvf lif trustees, the St. Louis bond buyers withdrew, their offer after June 10. The indications are that no progress will be made-his year in the matter of carrying out the program for an ex penditure, dt ,$400,000 in the improve ment of the city's public school system. Nothing happens to discredit the charge made by this newspaper that certain in terests in this town are not eager for the expenditure of this money. Additional school grounds can not be acquired or contracts for buildings awarded until bonds are sold. No one knows where to sell bonds now. The disgraceful conditions of former years will continue in our present overcrowd ed school buildings another year at least. In meantime the suppression of the facts and recommendations brought out in the school survey made in this city" last winter has succeeded to date. Printed copies of that report were to have been made pubic months ago and the public has been given nrst one ex cuse and then another as to why the survey was not made public. And now the public doesn't even get excuses. The only facts given the public concern ing this survey were published by this newspaper fcnd some in authority tried to -discredit the work of this newspaper in that connection. A SUIT OF PAPER CLOTHES A suit of paper clothes from Ger many is attracting jnuch attention inf the show windows of Kaulls 6c iox, gents furnishers, of this city. Paper clothing originated jn Germany during the war and is much worn in fhat coun try to-day. Paper twine, such as groc ers use in tying up bundles is woven into fabric that looks like basket weave cloth and the , durability of it is such that it can actually be washed and ironed, tho it is not guaranteed to stand many washings. A suit of this material retails for about $2. Read "The Man For the Ages" be ginning in this issue of THE INDEPENDENT. 24, 1921. I THIS GRAY BOY IS HOT KNOWN HERE Elizabeth City Police Never Heard of Young Desperado Held in Virginia No one in Elizabeth City seems to know anything of Thomas . William Gray, a 19-year-old boy claiming Eliza beth City as his home, who is in jail in Charlottesville, Ya., - in connection with the burning of a store, many rob beries Jpefttding the theft of an automo bile, - and the murder of an aged mai. The boy giving his name as Gray was arrested with two other boys at Char lottesville, - Va. last week following the 1 " T 1 1 J 1 lman at a earaire at that nlace. and the theft of a high priced automobile. Young Gray told the police he was from Eliz- In a confession to the Charlottesville police Gray admitted having fired a big warehouse in Lynchburg, which previr ously was believed to have been fired by slacking lime after a heavy storm.. He also confessed to robbing a cafe near the fire during the progress of the fire, making two visits to the cafe, once rob bing the cash register and the other time taking money from the safe. An other robbery, that of Jenkins' grocery store in Lynchburg, and another of Hick's store, in Monroe, were con fessed, and stuff alleged to have been taken from these places were recov ered. Gray said he did not intend to fire the Hutter place, at which a. fireman lost his life, when he was electrocuted by .a falling electric wire. He broke into the place and robbed the office. As he was leaving the building he said he lost his flashlight. It became necessary for him to strike a match to find his way out of the building, and this -he threw into a pile of ' hay. .The h'ay blazed up quickly, an the boy claims that he attempted to put "the fire out, but it quickly got out of his control, and he fled from the building. He went across the street to the cafe, and when a railroad man came by and said the Hutter building was on fire he rushed to a fire alarm box and turned in the alrm. After the fireman was electrocuted Gray helped to keep people out of- the street, managing during the confusion . to slip into the cafe twice to rob it. Gray claims to have been alone in the Hutter robbery, and signed a con fession, to which he made affidavit be fore a magistrate. Hathaway Sav n If you wear glasses, ,have your eyes and glasses both examined from time to time, and go to the place whereyou v can afford to pay a reason able price for real professio nal work.' Remember your eyes are your bread-winners. Take care" of them. You have your teeth ex amined twice a year. Why ' " not you eyes? They are more important. Dr. J. D. Hathaway Optometrist Phoae 999 Bradford Bldg. Published JGrerr Friday by W. O. S&nnden at 505 . Fearing St.. Elizabeth City. N. O. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MAY REGULATE FISHING Bill In Congress Would Put North Carolina Fish eries Under Federal Regulations and Supervision A BUNDLE OF PEP AND A MASTER OF ATHLETICS L. M. UPCHURCH ELIZABETH CITY has succeeded In securing .a director of Community Ser vice to carry on the work here for the months of July, August and September and here is the man. He brings to Elizabeth City a training and experience in athletics that should win the imme diate interest of every redblooded youth In town. His other qualifications are youth, robust health, pep and enthusi asm. He is 29 years old, a native of Wake county, a graduate of the Uni versity of North Carolina, holds' several track records, has worked in athletics in several schools, was ranking division athletic officer at Camp Wadswerth, S. C. and later General Athletic Officer at Camp Jackson, where he directed the training of men In wrestling, boxing and bayoneting. He has coached basketball, football, volley ball and . almost every other popular game. He has had train ing In the Boy Scouts, dramatics, folk dances, games, gymnasium, industrial work, Atory telling, pageantry, summer camps and community singing. He is 29 years old and married. , Mr. Upchurch Is expected to arrive In Elizabeth jCity Monday,. June 27. FARMERS' MARKET DAY A SUCCESS IN WASHINGTON Housewives Carry Their Baskets To Courthouse Lawn Every Satur " day- Morning A farmers' market day inaugurated in Washington, N. C, on Saturday, April 2, and continued every Saturday since that date has proven most successful, according to the Washington (N. C.) Daily News. Every Saturday morning farmers of Beaufort county bring their eggs, butter, poultry, vegetables and othr er products of the farm, kitchen and dairy to the courthouse square in Wash ington and there the Washington house wives come with their market baskets and select their purchases from a large and varied, offering of the best the farmers have to sell. '" Wheri' it was first proposed to inaug urate a farmers' market day in Wash ington there wereiany doubters who declared, the scheme wouldn't work be cause .women who were used to phoning their orders to the' grocer wouldnt bother to bring a market basket and carry their own purchases. But the women do and every Saturday morning one may see scores of Washington wom en, many from the best homes in the town, shopping from the farmers stocks on the courthouse lawn. Elizabeth City could make even bet ter provision for a farmers' market day than Washington has done, by utilizing the open , space around the city market. The suggestion remains to be adopted and worked out by the Farm Demon stration Agent or some civic organiza tion. . SAT DOWN WITH DEATH BUT LIVES TO TELL IT 78-Year Old Elizabeth City Man Recov ers From Stroke of Paralysis How it feels to .sit face toface with death for days a"hd "resign one's self to has been the experience of M. B. Culpepper, one of the oldest and best known residents of Elizabeth City. Mr. Culpepper suffered -a mild stroke of pa ralysis several weeks ago. He was speechless for several hours and for days he couldn't use his limbs. Mr. Culpepper is 78 years old and when one is paralyzed at the age of 78 the chances of recovery are not very en couraging. But Mr.' Culpepper has re covered and is again about the streets, apparently as sound as ever. "But I thought I wouldn't get around to see my friends .anymore," Mr. Cul pepper told the reporter this week. "I always had a horror of paralysis and when it struck me and left me sitting there helpless I though my me had come. But I didn't feel a, bit alarmed about it; I just figured that I had to go some time anyway, and one time probably would be as good as another." Walter Allman, a young Burke coun ty man, was almost instantly killed in an automobile accident near Bridge water. ' I $L50 A YEAR If a bill recently introduced in the Congress of the United States becomes a law the regula tion of the shad and herring fish ing industry of the inland sounds and rivers of North Carolina will be regulated by the Federal Governent under the Department of Commerce and North. Carolin ians will have as much to say about when and how they may catch and sell a shad or a herrinsr as they now have to say about when and how they may kill a cannvasback duck. A copy of the bill as introduced by Congressman Linthicum and known as H. R. 213 has been furnished this news paper by Congressman Ward. The bill is now before the Committee on Mer chant Marine and Fisheries and pow-, erful influences are working for a favor able report and its passage. Here's the bill: "A bill to protect fish not remain ing the entire year within the waters of any State or Territory, and auth orizing the Department of Commerce to define the seasons and regulate the manner and conditions under which they may be taken or destroyed. "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States .of America' in Congress assembled, That all fish that do not remain the entire year within the waters of any State or Territory shall hereafter be deemed to be within the custody and protection of the. Gov ernment of the United States and shall not be taken or destroyed con trary to regulations hereinafter pro- ' Tided therefor: Provided, however, That this Act shall not apply to fish when they may be in waters solely within a State or Territory, which waters are not the outlets of streams having their sources beyond the bor ders of said State or Territory. "Sec. 2. That the Secretary of Commerce is hereby authorized and directed to adopt suitable regulations to give effect to the previous para graph by prescribing and fixing closed -seasons, the manner, and conditions under ' which and the 'means by wnidK said fish'' shall not be taken or de stroyed, and it shall be unlawful to take or destroy any fish within the protection of this law - during said closed, seasons, or to violate any reg ulation prescribed by the Secretary of Commerce for their protection, and any person or any company, cor poration, or association who shall vio late any of the provisions of -this law or regulations prescribed hereunder shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not more than $500 or be imprisoned not exceeding one year for the first offense, and upon convic tion of each subsequent offense not exceeding $1,000 or be imprisoned not exceeding three years, or both, in the discretion of the court. "Sec. 3. That the Secretary of Commerce, after the preparation of said regulations, shall cause the same to be made public, and shall allow a period of three months in which said regulations, may be examined and considered before final adoption, per mitting, when deemed proper, public hearings thereon, and after final adoption shall cause the same to be engrossed and submitted to the Pres ident of the United States for ap proval: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall be . deemed to affect or interfere with the local laws of the States and Terri tories for the protection of fish re maining the entire year within thjeir waters, nor to prevent the States and Territories from enacting laws and regulations to promote and render ef ficient the regulations of the Depart ment of Commerce provided under this statute. "Sec. 4. That there is hereby ap propriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of carrying out these provisions, the sum of $30,000." Commenting upon the bill in a letter to the editor of THE INDEPENDENT, Congressman Ward says: "The proponents of the bill support it on" the ground of shifting and unstable state legislation and the conflict of laws between states' and imperfect enforce ment of state laws. There has been a discussion of it before Mr. Hoover and considerable interest is manifested in it. It is true that our state laws on fishing have not een as successful and free from Contest and changes, for the last twenty years, as I think they ought to have been, but it does, not seem to me that that is a sufficient reason for the Federal Government to take everything on t"he earth and 'in the waters under the earth' into its own hands. I want to know what the people think about it, and ask them to write me." OF INTEREST TO WOMEN M. Leigh Sheep Co. announce their annual Seven Day Wonder Sale else where in this newspaper to-day. This sale opens Saturday, June 25 and con tinues for just seven days. The adver tisement is full of seasonable money saving suggestions for women, sustain ing the reputation of this popular wo man's wear store for sales of merit. ii' if i; , j.r '$3 :i.t lit mi m ill m- - i! . 5-i 4 '..-;..! -'II it M J! I; - s . SB Ji'r ' M ' ' L M