The independent. [volume], February 05, 1932, Page 2, Image 2

About The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936

Image provided by: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, Chapel Hill, NC

                
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Attorney General's Opinion Stops Squabble
Mysterious Blaze Puzzles Chemists, Too?Corrupt Practices Law Cited by Brummitt?Brief Strike Settled j
Amicably?Auto Liability Rates Increased Again?More Suspects Held in Bank Robbery?Other N.C. News j
' | ~~ ? j
? ot^rll
..?? f...? ]
?The Chowan school tangle, cause
of storm of discussion and editor-1
ial comment thruout the State for
the past two months, at least parti
ally was Vyitangled Monday when
Attorney General Dennis G. Brum
mitt ruled that the County Board
of Education in Chowan County
has been in' the wrong thruout the
entire? controversy and that the
State Board of Equalization has,
ljeen in the right. This ruling did,
not alter actual conditions in Cho
wan. for the County Board of Edu-!
cation me* Monday and decided
thai the W^ds. Ryland and R:\er
vievl schcols?will continue to operate
as tfiey have been for the past few j
racryhs until the end of the present
term. It was held that the three!
schdbls could not ' be consolidated
with Chowan high school this term, j
even if ?ueh a step were deemed
logidal. Mr. Brummitt. in his opin- j
ion.istated that the.duties of county :
boawls ^ifltfucation insofar as the
opei{itioffT>r the six months school I
tcrnj is concerned are largely con- j
ting|nt upon the power delegated!
to tmWtftTOhty boards by the State
Board of Education and have no
authority to conduct the six months |
school term along any different lines
than those laid down by the Board
of Equalization. The opinion was j
in response to a request from R. H. j
Bachman. Superintendent of Schools j
in Chowan County. During the'
j weeks the row has been raging, the
i State Board has stuck to its guns
and insisted it was right and the
County Board was wrong. The
County Board of Education likewise
has maintained that its position
was justifiable and that it was being
imposed upon by the State Board
The Brummitt opinion put an end to
the quibbling and buck-passing for
the time being, at least.
?Page Sherlock Holmes. Strange
! things have been happening in the
home of C. H. Williamson, in Blad
enboro. A window shade in the
home caught afire and burned Sat
urday afternoon. Another shade
burned a little later. Sunday, in
the presence of the family and visit
ors. a bed was enveloped in flames
and burned rapidly. In a closet
papers burned to ashes. A pair of
trousers in a closet caught fire
late Sunday. Nearly every room in
the house has been visited by the
strange fire which has destroyed
many articles in the house. All
household goods were removed from
the house and the Williamson fam
ily has been staying elsewhere at
night. The whole town and com
munity was thrown into a state of
excitement and all were at a loss
to explain the mysterious fire. All
sorts of theories were suggested and
: chemists from Raleigh and else
1 where were taken to the home to try
to determine the cause of the mys- I
terious blazes. None of the theories I
advanced have been satisfactory.
The phenomenon has attracted j
thousands of visitors.
?With the campaign preliminary |
to the Democratic primary in June |
rapidly getting underway. Attorney |
General Dennis G. Brummitt saw I
tit this week to call attention to im- j
portant changes in the corrupt j
practice law made by the 1931 i
General Assembly and which will j
apply for the first time in this j
campaign. The law definitely limits |
the expenditures which can be made j
by or on behalf of candidates for !
nomination in primaries. The limits !
of expenditures follows: Governor,;
$12,000; u. S. Senator. $12,000; Con-i
gressman, $6,000; Lieutenant Gover-!
nor. $2,500; member General Assent- |
bly, $600 ;any other State, district!
or county office, one-half the an
nual salary of the particular of-1
fices it may be at the time of such
primary. The law also provides for
a check on contributions and ex
penditures, and requires detailed rc
| itorts of same.
?C. O. Bridger. treasurer of the
Bladenboro cotton mills, announced,
late Tuesday the plant's employes'
would return to work Wednesday
morning, ending a brief strike which ;
was marked by shooting of three |
officers and other disorders. The
! strike was precipitated by a wage
| "readjustment' 'estimated at 10 per.
cent, coupled with friction between
! employes and a newly-appointed
superintendent. There were about
5C0 workers participating. No one
was wounded seriously. A "peare
meeting'" between officials and
i strikers ended the strike.
?Surprised was State Insurance
Commissioner Dan C. Boney this1
; week upon being notified by the Na
tional Bureau of Casualty and Sure
i ty Underwriters of the second in
j crease in automobile liability insur
i ance rates in seven months in this
State. The new rate, which went
into effect February 1. is protested
' by insurance men. Last summer
the liability companies contended
that their liability loss ratio for the
period 1927-30 averaged 66 per cent
i and represented a net loss on busi
. ness in this State. Now they con
tend that the loss ratio has risen j
above 109 per cent. The increases
are effective for both private and
commercial operator.-.
I
?A. W. Petit, 19, identified as one
? of the men who robbed the Bank of :
Magnolia cf $14,300 on January 12.'
and two women arrested with him i
in Jacksonville. Fla.. last week, were
returned to Kenansville this week
and placed in jail. The women face
charges of violation of the Federal
Mann Act. Jesse Weeks, of Wil
[ mington. another of the robbers, is j
; being held in Jacksonville pending
' an extradition hearing. Weeks is (
j said to have implicated Joe and
Herbert Garner, brothers, who were
, arrested at their home near Wil-1
! mington Tuesday charged with com
j plieitv in the robbery. They are
! alleged to have operated the two
: automobiles in which Petit and
Weeks are alleged to have fled after
, the holdup.
I ?John M. Brewer, Wake Forest'
banker and political leader, was this
I week paroled by Governor O. Max
i Gardner without beginning the pri
son sentence of from one to three
years which was imposed last June
by Judge M. V. Barnhill in Wake
| Superior Court and which was af-'
firmed last week by the Supreme1
1 court, for receiving deposits in the
defunct Citizens Bank of Wake j
Forest, knowing the bank to be in-,
|
! ^ !
solvent. Tne pwoic, *"?wi gives i
the defendant six months with
in which to pay a $3,167.63 over- |
draft of the firm of W. C. Brewer
& Co., of which he was a partner;
is the first ever granted by Gover-1
nor Gardner before the beginning of j
a sentence. The Governor said it was
no precendent, because Mr. Brawer |
had committed no act of moral tur- I
pitude. Many pleas had been made
for the banker.
?In recent months. State officials
seemingly have had little to do but I
lamblast one another with verbal j
broadsides. Most recent of these |
broadsides was a double-barrelled
attack this week by Frank D. Grist j
upon Governor O. Max Gardner
in connection with the recently an
nounced revised State salary sche
dules. The attack drew from the
chief executive a refusal to reply to
charges concerning "outrageous dis- j
crimination" and "political pets,"
but referred inquiries to the record
in connection with references to1
lower salaries for constitutional of-1
ficers than for appointive officers
and references to the SI,500 allow- I
ance for "public entertainment" at [
the Governor's Mansion.
Ehringhaus Opens
Headquarters in The
Sir Walter Hotel
Hon. J. C. B. Ehringhaus, Eliz-;
abeth City's gubernatorial aspirant, (
last week closed his East Main |
Stree heme here, left his law prac- ?
ticc in the hands of his law part- 1
ner, John Hall, tendered to the City
Council his resignation as a member
of the Board of Trustees of the City
Schools and departed for Raleigh,
which he is now making his head
quarters and hopes to make his
home.
Mr. Ehrtngnaus nas opcnea neaa
quarters in the Sir Walter Hotel
and is planning to do much travel
ing. using Raleigh as headquarters,
because of its central location. Mrs.
Ehringhaus is with him. Their:
daughter. Matilda, is living with a !
relative in Edenton, where she will.
complete the present school term, j
Blucher is attending the University
of North Carolina and Haughton is I
in school at Wood berry Forest. j
Mr. Ehringhaus is planning an ex- j
tensive campaign, in which he hopes
to speak in every county in the
State before the date of the primary. |
If he fails to gain the nomination,
he will be back in Elizabeth City;
this summer. If successful, he plans I
to return here four vears hence.
It's The Man
That Gets The
Break This Time
Not all of the time is it the wo
man who gets the breaks in bargain 1
sales. The man also gets a break
this week in the Removal Sale now
being conducted by the firm of D. [
Walter Harris.
D. Walter Harris. "Known for Good
Clothes," for years has been doing 1
business in a store in the Carolina
Building, on Main street. But the
owners of the store have recently
rented it to another concern. D
Walter Harris will move its business'
to the store on Main street next to
the Industrial Bank. Frank Harris1
member of the firm of D. Walter
Harris, states that the concern has
a large stock of men's suits and
overcoats and that they want to cut
down this stock before moving the
first of next month. And to do this
prices have been marked down con- i
siderably lower than at any time be
fore. Mere man can now get a very,
good suit or overcoat for a small'
amount of cash.
i
1,000 Swan Halt
Southward Flight j
At Erie, Penna.
The fact of fewer swan appearing;
in Currituck and other North Caro-1
lina sounds this winter is partly ex- j
plained by W. R. Morrison of Erie, ?
Pa., who tells this newspaper that i
he has counted upwards of 1,000 i
swan in Presquile Bay, at Erie this,
winter.
The swan have found an abun- j
dance of fresh water grasses in Pre- I
squile Bay and they are not harras
sed by fire lighters and other illegal
hunters. Mr. Morrison says swan}
have rarely been seen in his local
ity in other years. The unusually!
mild winter may explain their stop:
as far north this year.
Mr. Morrison, accompanied by
Mrs. Morrison, were guests of the
Virginia Dare Hotel Monday night
enroute, to Florida.
l
Cost Pumping Water I
Greatly Decreased j
Under Meter System |
Some idea of the amount of
money to be saved the City of Eliz-1
abeth City by reason of the instal
lation of water meters is gained
from a look at records at the muni-,
cipal light and water plant.
During the month of January,
1931, 46,000,000 gallons of water were'
pumped to local consumers. The
cost of current used to pump this j
water was $718.50, which was the I
only 16.000,000 gallons of water were
pumped to Elizabeth Citizens and
the cost of the electricity required
to pump this amount of water was |
$291.25. Of course, January is not I
a fair month for such a comparison, I
for more water was pumped by the
local plant in January, 1931, than
ever before or since. However, 30,- I
000,000 gallons or more were pump- '
ed almost every month for a num- ?'
ber of months and it can be readily J
seen that a monthly consumption I
of 16,000,000 will mean considerable 1
saving to the City in pumping and |
treating costs.
Prior to the month of October. J
1931, when the city purcnaocu a..u ^
began the installation of water |
meters thruout the city, the cost ,
of pumping water to local consum- I
ers was above $500 a month. In (
October, the figure dropped to $499 j
and in November $387, the reason [
being that the consumers cut their ! j
watpr consumption because of the ? |
psychological effect of having meters j
in front of their homes, altho the
meter rate did not go into effect:
until January 1. ||
During the decade between 18501
and 1860 more than 40.000 Chinese
were imported into California. J
i I
Little Bits O' News
LOCAL AND REGIONAL
|
Some say the clement weather i
that has blessed this section this ?
winter is an early spring, but not so
Police Officer George Twiddy. Of
ficer Twiddy says our mild weather
has been a continuation of the Fall,
and to support his contention he
displays several white crysanthe
mums picked in his yard this week.
But a majority of Elizabeth Citizens
think it is an early spring that we
are enjoying, for violets, jonquils,
narcissus and many other kinds of
flowers and shrubs of one sort or
another are blooming these days in
all sections of the city. And the
first kite of the year was seen this
week.
The Ground Hog certainly did not
sec his shadow in Elizabeth City
Tuesday and it is extremely doubt
ful that he even poked his head
out of his hole. Tuesday was a
cool, drizzly day in Elizabeth City
and shadows were simply out of the
question as the sun remained hid
den thruout the day.
The County court docket b^ing in
fairly good shaite and the amount of
money in the budget for court ex
penses being insufficient to carry cut
the court schedule for the remainder
of the fiscal year, the Board of
County Commissioners in their regu-1
lar monthly meeting Monday de
cided to draw no juries for the
terms of Superior Court beginning
March 21. June 13 and June 20. j
$5,000 is allowed in the budget for!
court expenses and $2,685.50 of this'
amount was expended during the i
first six months of the fiscal year.
At the three terms of court men- 1
tioned above motions and other,
questions of law will be heard by (
the Court.
Spite of the depression, Hertford,
in Perquimans County, has six girls
in the N. C. College for Women at
Greensboro. The Hertford young
women are Misses Dorothy Elliott,1
Frances Fowler. Sophia Josephine
Hefren. Marjorie Pearl Hefren, Jes
sie T. Nev.bv and Agnes Granbery,
Tucker.
Feeling that the time had arrived,
for God Almighty to take a hand in
the Sino-Japanese tangle, members
of the Elizabeth City Ministerial
Association called upon the people of
Elizabeth City to pray for peace
Tuesday morning at eleven o'clock
while the bells of the various
rhurches rang. Only one church,
bell was heard at the appointed
hour Tuesday morning and there is
no way of ascertaining just how
many Elizabeth Citizens toid God
what to do. or told Him what he ,
should make His subjects do. in the
present crisis.
The first train scheduled to pass
over the Norfolk Southern Railway
bridge across Albemarle Sound Sun
day morning was delayed for five
hours, to the extreme displeasure of;
the few passengers, while a repair
crew was engaged in the reconstruc-,
tion of five .spans burned by a fire |
which was set by sparks from the
southbound train which crossed the
bridce. The fire started near the
Mac-keys side cf the bridge.
For the first time since last
March, storm signals were displayed
in Manteo Saturday by A. W. Drink- I
water, who is in charge of the
weather bureau at that point. Only I
small craft warning, and very few of j
those .have been displayed during |
the past 11 months. Saturday's
storm warnings, however, preceded
no storm in this section, for Sunday \
was fair. Mr. Drinkwater says the
past eleven months has been one
cf the most moderate periods of 1
| weather to continue for so l;>;.
time within his memory.
j Dr. H. A. Thorson
| Chiropractor
304 Kramer Bids.
Phone?Office 10.") 1
Residence 331
REMOVAL
oL ^i w ?
7* 1 ^ ^
We are soon to move into our new
quarters next to the Industrial Bank,
and in order to convert a large part of
our stock into cash, we are drastically re
ducing our prices. I
I
This is your opportunity to dress up.
Prices have been reduced below reason.
i
SUITS
Values to $17.75, at
- $10-95
Values to $21.75, at j
: $13 95 ?
Values to $23.75, at
$16-95 |
Values to $26.75, at
$19.95
Values to $34.75, at
I $22-95 |
O'COATS
Values to $21.75, at
$11-95
Values to $23.75, at
$14.95
Values to $28.75, at
$17-95
Values to $34.75, at
$19-95
.^JSo Extra Charge for Alterations
D; Walter Harris
PENDER'SI
Land O'Lakes Sweet Cream f
Butter |
Lowest Price in Years [3
& 29c ib!
1
I SWEET MIXED ?j
MIES Quart Jar . . 1?c jj
HAND PICKED DRIED
5 SAIY BEARS 4 lbs . . !?c |
9 ZiON DELICIOUS
IFIS BARS 2 lbs . . . 19c
I READY TO SERVE
I TliilP OREENS 3 No. 2 cans 25c
I SWEET CRUSHED
J 3 No. 2 cans . . 20c
I t.'et A Movie Star Button With a Loaf of 1
O'JR FfiOE BREAD - - J
Attractive Prize Will Complete Set
illM Mil M?l??????BBa
Are Termites Eating You
Out of House and Home?
Termites are infesting thousands of homes in North Caro
lina to-day and all unknown to you may already have begun
the work of destroying your home or other building. For
they conceal their activities and their presence is often unex
pected until it is too late.
. TERMINIX, the admitted superior Termite insecticide and
a product of E. L. Bruce & Co., of Memphis, Tenn. will rid
your premises of termites, save your home.
It costs you nothing to investigate. Our experts will
make a survey of your premises, determine whether termites
have attacked your structure, give you exact costs of term
ite extermination. Our survey costs you nothing, puts you
under no obligations.
Write to-day for literature or ask one of our representa
tives to call.
Terminix Company of North Carolina
Licensed by E. L. Bruce Co., of Memphis, Tenn.
125 STAFFORD PLACE GRflp^ORO, N. C.
I SPECIAL
SALE
Of ;
GAS
: RANGES
! During !
! This I
t I
| Week
! Elizabeth and Suburban
GAS COMPANY
: CORNER MAIN AND ROAD STREETS
bI EI