The Greensboro patriot [December 18, 1916]

              _ - *w?V!wr*r , • . ^-T^^fi 7-jV «•W.W«•.' f.»P^!lflN»**ai!>!
oias festivftie
r to help makd
o help you sur-l
tmas morning
of the world's
it the "money
is the easiest]
.0 get—as out
whether yon
$15 or one
he true music
. Come in and
e "private con-j
liments.
THE
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PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY AND THURSDAY
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gSTABLi i». ^ 1821 GREENSBORO, N. C. MONDAYS DECEMBER 18, 1916. VOL. 95—NO. 103
11KERR WED SUDDENLY
...HI )«■■ AN9WKR8
* MM MfOMOM AND LAYS
H
|K)«v umn BURDENS.
llr
Samuel A. Kerr died Friday
Ine al S o'clock at his'home on
**con"- following an acute Winces
Jr. attacked h«m about 11 o'clock
"fprevioiis night. He had appear-ed
'° hi- m
the da>'
his usual health and
Thursday in his office
ndins to '"isiness as usual. For
'hoi! i*° ve;,rs Mr" Kerr llas suffer"
' fnm an affection of the heart,
'ie neveT complained and his
but
• I known beyond the
lr0«blf »■« na
f:rfle of hi* intimates.
Br Kerr was regarded as one of
he city's best and most useful citi-s
-uul his unexpected death came
;l distinct "hock to the entire com-
■tfflit?-
Tie funeral was held at the First
Presbyterian church this afternoon
,• 3 o'clock, having been postponed
from yesterday afternoon to await
•ie arrival of a son of the deceased
from Chicago. The services were
conducted by Hev. Charles .F. Myers.
pastor of the church, assisted by
Kev. Dr. Melton Clark, of Charles-foa.
S. C.a former pastor; Rev. Dr.
E. L Bain, of West Market Street
Methodist church, and Rev. R. Mur-p::
y Williams, of the Church of the
Ctrenant. The pall-bearers were:
Messrs. B. Q. Vaughn, J. M. Hen-jjjjt,
K. G. Glenn. A. M. Scales. A.
W. SIcAlister and Dr. E.'R. Michaux.
Interment was made in Greene Hill
cemetery.
Mr. Kerr was 57 years of age, hav-hi
been born in the Buffalo church
wighborhood October 22. 1859-. He
ni Hie only son of Samuel M. and
Elizabeth Shelton Kerr and was of
Srotcli descent. Practically his en-tire
life was spent in Greensboro,
•here he builded for himself a rep-utation
for probity and justness in
all the relations of life. Quiet and
nobstrusive in manner, he yet man-ifested
a.lively interest in the affairs
of tiie community and never hesi-tated
to throw his influence on the
aide of what he conceived to be right
Hd justice.
Early in life Mr. Kerr connected
Maself with the Presbyterian
«»rch and was a faithful member
w:l death. He was devoted to all
to varied interests of the church.
He was a member of the Sunday
acaool for half a century and was
superintendent for many years. In
1S!J lie was elected a deacon of the
'touch and 17 years Mater became
■" "liler. For the past six or seven
f«*rs lie had served as church treas-ll*
r.
Mr. Kerr was highly regarded as
' business man. having a reputation
"' safety, conservatism and accu-
'** "f judgment. When a young
"" he was engaged in the grocery
°«»ess and later he conducted a
«H* and stationery store. Of late
■'"* he had bee* connected with
« Southern Life and Tust Com-
»>'. beins trust officer and assis-a"'
"""laser of the trust depart-
■*' of .hat corporation.
*■ Kerr married Miss Agnes
|)",! •• •> granddaughter of Rev. Peter
*"•'■*<»•' of the most noted Metho-t
preachers the state has pro-
Ijtu'('■ ai,i liaBBhter of Prof- Wil-r
»oub. for many years a pro-f
Greensboro
MANY GASES DISPOSED OF
\ ~
SHORT TERM CRIMINAL COURT
PRACTICALLY CLEARS UP
THE DOCKET.
leg. She
Female Col-
Mirvives him, together
1 «*o sons -Prof; Doub Kerr, of
j*™*' School of Technology,
• tm :•'"' Sam"el A" Kerr' Jr"
"fcsol. Greensboro high
K lor Farm Loan Bank in
State.
***•■«»■. Dec. 15,-Senator
on» conferred with Secretary
0"/,,iay w,th «*»«» to a farm
J■»■* for North Carolina. Af-
I It'J ""."'view Mr. Simmons said:
,e,.roi
l|UUe a lengthy talk with the
Sit i,:,''' i""1 wMto he di<* not com-
(ablish » ■ "" ",e proP°sitio° to es-tW*
larm loau bank in North
he saiil'V. l *'as Pleased with what
Df u-
■u'lgor. ' Witl>ers and Dr. B. V.
;° Put i'" Ku,eiRh- were here today
Wn \". * few sPike» for a farm
fen*, ^,u",r, tne state. They con-fers,
PENSION MONEY RECEIYED
CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS AND
WIDOWS IN GUILFORD
SHARE IN «li,880.
arv "aniels.
^.iLJ';'ln A- Gilmer, of Morgan-
" the h C"y to *pond »ome time
^ R AS ? her "rother-in-Uw.
• *• Gllmer.
Although the December criminal
term of Superior court did not con-vene
until Wednesday afternoon, ow-ing
to the inability of Judge Webb
to reach the city earlier, good prog-ress
was made in the trial of cases
and the docket had been practically
disposed of when the hour of ad-journment
came Saturday afternoon.
Ransom R. Jones, a young man of
good appearance, who was arrested
here several days ago on the charge
of attempted criminal assault, his
intended victim being a 12-year-old
girl, was placed on trial Saturday
afternoon. Attorneys who were ap-pointed
by the court to defend Jones
entered a plea of insanity and sev-eral
witnesses testified that, in their
opinion, he was insane. The witness-es
included Dr. W. M. Jones, the
county physician; Dr. F. C. Hyatt,
the city physician; Chief of Police
Iseley and Patrolmen Skeenes and
Jones. The state did not attempt to
refute this testimony, and after de-liberating
a few minutes, the . jury
returned a verdict finding the de-fendant
to be insane. Judge Webb
made an order that Jones be con-fined
in the criminal insane* depart-ment
of the state prison until suth
time as he might be pronounced
cured.
Jones came to GreensDoro from
Durham and is also wanted there on
a charge of attempted criminal as-sault
on a little girl. He appears to
be between 25 and 30 years of age
and a man of good education. Let-ters
found on his person when' ar-rested
indicate that he has a wife
and young daughter in Virginia.
Maness Willard and G. W. Boi-ling,
young white men arrested by
Sheriff Stafford some time ago with
an automobile load of whiskey,
were allowed to go with fines instead
of road sentences. Willard was fined
$400 and costs, with the proviso that
a road sentence of 12 months be-come
effective if the amount is not
paid by midnight tonight. He was
also required to give a bond of $200
and appear at each criminal term of
court for the next 18 months to show
that he has not been engaged in the
liquor business.
Boiling was fined $50 and costs,
with the same proviso as applies to
Willard as to a road sentence if the
money is not paid into the hands of
the clerk of the court _by midnight
tonight.
Pete Carroll, a "white youth, was
sentenced to the roads for six
months for larceny.
John Boyd, found guilty of having
an unlawful amount of whiskey in
his possession, was fined $100 and
costs and required to give bond for
his future good conduct.
Sharp Curry and Will Lofiin.
young negroes, were given road sen-tences
of 18 months each for high-way
robbery.
John Davis, colored, was given
eight months on the roads for lar-ceny.
Four negro women found guilty
of the larceny of money from the
person of Solomon Sullivan, a white
man, were given sentences in the
workhouse as follows: Martha Day.
30 days; Clea Roberts, 90 days;
Blanche Doggett, 30 days; Ollie
Henry, 60 days.
George Brooks was sentenced to
the roads six months for having li-quor
for sale.
Ned Dorsett, colored, drew six
months on the r.oads for carrying
concealed weapons.
Joseph Hill and J. C. Madlin were
adjudged guilty of an affray. Hill
was fined $15 and half the costs
and Mbdlin was let off with half the
costs. Both me/i were .placed under
bonds of $100 for their future good
behavior. |
Want New Court House.
The most interesting feature of
the grand jury's report, -which was
filed Saturday, was a recommenda-tion
that the county commissioners
proceed as early as possible with the
erection of a new court house—
"such a building as would be in
keeping with the wealth and prog-ress
of the county of Guilford." The
grand jury found the court house
badly in need of repairs, but sug-gested
that no money be wasted in
repairing the old arid out-of-date
building.
The grand Jury passed on 26 bills,-'
finding 24 true billi and two not
The warrants for Guilford's Con-federate
pensioners have been re-ceived
from the office of the state
auditor and are being distributed
among the aged claimants as rapidly
as possible by the clerk of the Su-perior
court. There are 349 pension-ers
in the county this year—179 sol-diers
and 170 widows of soldiers—
and they receive a total of $11,880.
In most cases the money, small in
amount though it be, comes as a
most welcome Christmas present to
the men and Women who are thus
remembered at this season of the
year.
The largest amount, paid by the
state as a pension is $120 a year and
the smallest is $32. There are four
pensioners of the highest class in
Guilford county, they being totally
blind as the result of wounds receiv-ed
in the war. Two soldiers receive
$72 each, this class having lost an
arm and a leg or both arms or both
legs. There are six who receive $60,
having lost an arm above the elbow
or a leg above the knee. Seven be-long
to the class that lost an arm
below the elbow or a leg below the
knee and receive $48. There are
160 soldiers in the class described as
three-fourths disabled and who re-ceive
$32 each.
The total amount paid the 179
soldiers is $6,440 and the amount
paid the widows is just $1,000 less
—$5,440, or $32 each.
The law stipulates that no one
who owns as much as $500 worth of
property is entitled to a pension. In
addition to this proviso, the widows
must have married soldiers prior to
1868 to come within the benefit of
the pension law. In this connection
it is of interest to note that 11 wid-ows
in Guilford county were dropped
from the roll this year upon the dis-covery
that they had sworn falsely
as to the dates of their marriage.
CHARIiOTTE OBSERVER
PLANT IS DESTROYED.
Charlotte, Dec. 16.—Fire at 5.30
this morning partly destroyed the
four-story building at rear of the
Charlotte Observer building, occu-pied
by the , Observer Printing
House, job shop and bindery and the
mechanical department of the Ob-server,
completely wiping out the
machinery and stoc,k of the printing
house and doing thousands of dol-lars
in damage to the linotypes, com-posing
room equipment and press of
the Observer.
The fire was discovered by a news
boy. It was then breaking out of a
window xjn the fourth floor of the
bindery and burned for two hours
before controlled by firemen.
The plant of the Charlotte News
was immediately offered the Obser-ver
for publication of the paper
pending adjustment and will be used.
The damage to the equipment of the
Observer cannot' be determined un-til
the wreckage is cleared away and
water pumped out. The Observer is
owned by Curtis Johnson, of the
Sentinel, Knoxville, Tenn., and Wal-ter
B. Sullivan, who were remodel-ing
a building and contemplated
moving the plant within the next
two weeks. It is stated that the
damage today to the plant is covered
by insurance.
The Observer Printing House is a
business wholly separate from that
of the Charlotte Observer, being op-erated
independently of the newspa-per
and owned by an entirely sep-arate
corporation. A portion of the
mechanical building, however,' was
jointly occupied by both the print-ing
company and the newspaper.
MAKE NO MEDIATION OFFER
PRESIDENT WILL NOT ACCOM-PANT
NOTE WITH ANY SUG-GESTION
OF HIS OWN.
975,000 a Day to Dependents.
Washington, Dec. 15.—The war
department is paying $75,000 a day
to dependent families of enlisted
men of the regular army and nation-al
guard. Major General Sharpe,
quartermaster general, told the
house military committee today.
If disbursements continue at the
present rate, a deficiency of nearly
$5,000,000 will be shown by the end
of the fiscal year.
true bills.'
The jail, the workhouse, the
county home and convict camps were
visited and found to be in good con-dition.
Washington, Dec. 15.—President
Wilson has decided that the notes of
the central powers proposing a dis-cussion
of peace to the entente al-lies
.will be sent forward by the
American government acting as in-termediary
without any accompany-ing
mediation offer of its own. He
has not determined whether any ac-tion
in behalf of peace will be taken
later by the United States on its own
account, but is holding himself in
readiness to serve in any way possi-ble
toward bringing the warring na-tions
together.
The course to be pursued was
made known tonight after the presi-dent
had conferred with Secretary
Lansing, and after a prolonged cabi-net
meeting. It was stated that the
delay in forwarding the notes to the
entente capitals was due to the fact
that the messages received from
Germany. Austria-Hungary and Tur-key,
Identical in substance, differed
slightly in phraseology as a result of
different translations. They prob-ably
will be put on the cable tomor-row.
Since the first note" arrived, the
one from Germany, the president and
his closest advisers have been ab-sorbed
in study of the situation. The
Austrian note followed and the one
from Turkey came late today. Those
from Germany and Austria have
been gone 1 over carefully by the
president and Secretary Lansing to
make .'certain of their meaning and
so that they may be sure to repre-sent
froperly the intent of the cen-tral
powers.
Th». fact that the cabinet meeting
today^lasted more than three hours
and was the most prolonged of the
year, attracted profound attention in
offlohiLjiircles and let to aUjjorts.ofj
speculation. It was stated authori-tatively,
later, however, that the
meeting was devoted largely to con-sideration
of departmental matters,
and had been prolonged because it
was the first since the campaign that
all the members had been present.
In other quarters than the White
House it was learned.that somewor*
indicating the official attitude of the
entente allies toward the peace pro-posal
is being awaited with the
deepest interest by the American
government. The president will not
consider injecting the United States
into the situation until he is thor-oughly
familiar with all its phases.
Secretary Lansing, explaining the
delay in transmitting the communi-cations
of the central powers, point-ed
out that the German note was
translated into English by Charge
Crew, at Berlin, and the one from
Austria by Ambassador Penfield. at
Vienna; while the Turkish note
came to the state department in
French. As the communications
were intended to be identical, the
state department does not desire to
transmit three different versions,
and when all three are in hand to-morrow
a plan to avoid this will be
determined upon.
In England, France and Japan,
this government represents all "three
teutonic countries and will therefore
have to deliver three separate notes.
In Russia and Serbia the United
States represents both Austria and
Germany and will have to send on
two separate notes. Only to Bel-gium,
where Austria is represented
and in Rumania, where Germany is
represented it will be possible to
send only one note.
Switzerland's action in handling
the German note to Italy without
comment as announced through the
Italian parliament by Foreign Min-ister
Sonnino was noted here with
interest.
Definite indication of the attitude
of the entente allies is expected In
the speech of David Lloyd George,
the British prime minister next
Tuesday.
Meanwhile the authorized state-ment
of the German embassy here
that partial disarmament will be one
of the subjects taken up at any
peace conference was discussed gen-erally
in official and diplomatic cir-cles,
with speculation as to how far
in this direction Germany might be
willing to go.
American diplomacy in, the vari-ous
questions relating to the war
may be said to have stopped short,
temporarily with the announcement
of the teutonic offer to t»Hc peace.
The •nbmarlBo iarct, the Belgian de-
USE OF MAILS PROHIBITED
BILL FAVORABLY REPORTED BY
POSTOPFICE COMMITTEE
OF HOUSE.
WOULD END BOND TROOBLB
SOUTH DAKOTA MAN OFFBRS
MEASURE WHICH HE SAYS
WOULD DO THE WORK.
Washington, Dec. 15.—Legislative
measures aimed at destruction of the
liquor traffic continue to accumulate
in Congress as both houses are de-luged
with petitions from all parts
of the country urging adoption of
the national prohibition constitu-tional
amendment and passage of
other anti-liquor measures, including
the Sheppard bill to prohibit the
manufacture and sale of liquor in
the District of Columbia.
The house postoffice "committee
opened the door to another phase of
the problem today in reporting fav-orably
a bill designed to close the
mails absolutely to advertising of
any intoxicating liquors and to deny
mail order houses the right to go in-to
either ".wet" or "dry" territory jto
solicit sales through the medium of
the mails.
No move was made during the day
by prohibition leaders in the house
regarding the constitutional amend-ment
reported yesterday from the
judiciary committee, but Representa-tive
Webb, chairman of the commit-tee,
plans to ask the rules commit-tee
for a special rule to get the res-olution
before the house soon after
the holidays. The consensus of opin-ion
in the house seemed to be that
the resolution cannot get the neces-sary
two-thirds majority in the sixty-fourth
Congress. Even Representa-tive
Webb is not sanguine of success
now, but he is confident that the
amendment will receive more votes
than it did in the last Congress
when it had 13 votes more than a
majority. By the time the next Con-gress
has considered the isue he be-lieves
the victory can be won.
The District of Columbia prohibi-tion
bill was under consideration for
several hours in the senate today.
Debate on "the measure and the Un-derwood
amendment to provide for
a referendum on the issue to the
voters of the district will be resum-ed
tomorrow.
Senator Smoot, of Utah, declaring
that the Sheppard bill is a make-shift,
submitted a substitute today
which would not only prohibit the
manufacture and sale of liquor in
the capital but also prevent its im-portation
for personal use.
THREE MEMBERS OF A
FAMILY BURN TO DEATH.
Asheville, Dec. 16.—Trapped in
their two-room cabin, one mile west
of Canton, shortly after midnight
this morning. Jack Penland, aged
67, and daughters, Mildred, aged
21, and Laura, aged 14, were burned
to death and Mrs. Penland and son,
Willie were severely burned and to-night
are in an Asheville hospital,
while a four-year-old daughter and
a son aged 11 were slightly injured.
The fire, which was of unknown
crigin, had gained such headwav
when Mrs. Penland awoke that she
was barely able to grab up the small
daughter and dash through a door
that was in flames, the small soti
following. Willie Penland succeed-ed
in climbing through a window,
although he was seriously burned.
Tt is thought that Mr. Penland and
his two older daughters, must have
been overcome by smoke, which fill-ed
the room and the flames sur-rounded
them before they could
make their escape. Their charred
bodies were found when tlie neigh-oors
raked the embers this morning,
although they were burned beyond
recognition.
Washington. Dec. 15.—A bill in-troduced
in the house today by Rep-resentative
Charles Hall Dillon, of
South Dakota, if passed, will make
impossible trouble ' over the aid
bonds that Cuba is asking leave to
sue for payment on.
His bill is "T> Govern Procedure
Where One Stat 1 Seeks to Haintaie
an Original Action Against Another
State in the Supreme Court of the
United States in) Certain Cases."
The bill reads: "Be it enacted,
that in all cases where one state
seeks to maintain an original ac-tion
against another state in the Su-preme
court of the United States
upon any obligation or dispute
which does not arise directly be-tween
such states, but does arise be-tween
the defendant state and some
'Individual or corporation that has
transferred Such right or obligation
to the complaining state, such trans-ference
must show, in order to main-tain
such suit,, that it became sucb
owner by transfer in good faith for
full value before maturity in the
usual course without any notice of
the dishonor of such obligation."
Representative Dillon became in-tensely
interested in the North Car-olina
bonds while a member of the
South Dakota senate in 1907-1909
and led the fight against his state
receiving the money from North Car-olina
as allowed by the Supreme
court. "Public sentiment there was
against it." he said today.
He said today he became interest-ed
in the Cuba case as a result of bis
interest in the case between North
Carolina and South Dakota.
Referring to the action of the
New York brokers in getting South
Daokta to accept the bonds he said:
"Evidently now they'ye gone to Cuba
and sot through some deal there te
help collect those bonds. -
"The purpose of my bill is simply
to prohibit states going on the curb
and buying this old dishonored pa-per
that's 'hawked' about on the
market. If this bill passes, even if
Cuba is held to have a right to sue
a sovereign state, then Cuba must
show the go6d faith by which she
possessed the bonds.''
YOUNG BRIDE PERHAPS
FATALLY WOUNDED.
France to Be "Dry" on All Alcohol.
Paris, Dec. 15.—Total prohibition
throughout France of the consump-tion
of such alcoholic beverages as
whiskies, brandies and liquors has
been decided on by the government.
The use of the term alcohol in this
connection is understood in France
to include such beverages as absin-the,
which already has been sup-pressed;
whiskies, brandies and li-quors,
but not wines or beer.
portations and all the pending ques-tions
.with England are als,o dor-mant.
Peace has been given the right of
way at the department and it has
been practically impossible for offi-cials,
already overcrowded with
wor*. to give immediate attention to
other business waiting oa their
desk*.
Kinston, Dec. 16—Mrs. T. A. Mur-vin,-
about 20 years of age and only
for 10 or 12 weeks the bride of a
well-known young man of Lenoir
county, is expected to die as the re-sult
of an accidental shooting at
Deep Run last night. An 11-year-old
brother played with a revolver
believing it was empty. The one
cartridge in it was discharged. The
accident occurred in the home of L.
H. Carter, a prominent planter, fath-er
of the boy and woman.
Mrs. Murvin was visiting in her
father's home. The night previous-ly
Mudvin had dreamed that she was
ill. The dream impelled him to go
to her. They were preparing to re-turn
to their home when the affair
occurred. She fell into her husband's
arms. The bullet had struck her in
the side, hitting the seventh rib and
going upward and inward. Mrs.
Murvin was destined to maternity.
A profound hemorrhage followed.
Murvin hastened to Kinston for
medical assistance. He had to come
11 miles, but happ'ened upon luck
when an automobile passed him on
the road.
McOOY CONVICTED
IN CONSPIRACY CASK.
I .% ' , ■■■■■j~- «- -,.. : ■ ■.».i^.-.r.... ■..■ .^Ii.»,^il., Ci- l+J>*.ii*.it^aL.!i '-•liinnMiMHirriiii ifcf
Jacksonville. Rla.. Dec. IB.—
Thomas C. McCoy, of Asheville, N.
C, was convicted by a jury in Fed-eral
District court here today of
conspiracy to defraud the govern-ment
of revenue tax on whiskey dis-tilled
at the Long Branch distillery
here. The case was completed late
today and the jury was out an hoar
and ten minutes before returning a
verdict. McCoy's attorneys informal-ly
gave notice of a petition for a new
trial.
It was announced that sentence
will not be passed on McCoy until
after the prospective motion (or a
new trial has been heard. The max-imum
penalty Is four years in the
penitentiary.or a fine of 120,000.
Five Jacksonville men indicto*
with McCoy are to be tried here M
a fpetlal term oc court in Marct.
'lMJba. w. ,.■!.,:;:.-.Ava. HiTiii nirririi \\*M\