Dr. H.P. Bowman Fined for Beating, Choking His Wife, July 1, 1926

Dr. Bowman Fined for Whipping Given His Wife. . .Pays $250 fine and Costs for Domestic Affray at Home on E. Bessemer Ave.

Greensboro News

Dr. H.P. Bowman, physician resident of 208 East Bessemer Avenue, was fined $250 in the city court on Tuesday morning for assault on his wife one night a week ago.

Testimony was to the effect that Dr. Bowman had very cruelly beaten his wife. She said that he had beaten her with his fists, had choked her and had hit her with a plate and with a bottle. Mrs. Bowman screamed out at the time and a large number of people of the neighborhood went to the front lawn of the house and were present when Dr. Bowman came out and when his wife came out later and went to the police station where the complaint was made and a warrant secured by her.

From page 6 of The Concord Daily Tribune, July 1, 1926

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Mary Davis, 17, Beaten, Then Dumped in Road, July 1, 1926

Girl Tells Story of Wild Night Ride. . . She Is Picked Up in Road in Semi-Conscious Condition—Three Arrests Made

Wilson, June 30—Returning from Elm city late Tuesday night, Jack Applewhite, local youth, noticed a woman lying in the middle of the road, about a mile from this city, in a semi-conscious condition and picked her up and turned her over to the local police.

The woman, Mrs. Mary Davis, 17-year-old Fayetteville girl, told the officers a hideous tale of being taken on a wild ride by two men and a woman and of being mistreated and badly beaten. Medical attention was administered and the girl held pending an investigation into her story.

The investigation this morning resulted in the arrest of Paul Etherridge, Ben Barnes and Mrs. Pegram, said to be a sister of the beaten girl. Etheridge, held under the charges of assault on Mrs. Davis, was freed this afternoon under $3,000 bond, while Mrs. Pegram, held on charges of assault and accessory before and after the fact, and Barnes, charged with assault, are lodged in jail. The Davis woman is also detained.

From page 4 of The Concord Daily Tribune, July 1, 1926

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Charlie Bostic Switches, Then Shoots Unfaithful Wife, July 1, 1926

Negress Near-Fatally Shot by Irate Husband. . . Man with Whom She Was Caught Apparently Not Molested—And Hubby Didn’t Shoot Until In-Laws Began to Swarm as He Switched Erring Mate

Floral College (Maxton R. 2), June 29—A near-fatal shooting occurred on the J.B. McCallum farm here on Thursday night of last week, the participants in the affair being colored. Charlie Bostic, upon coming home from work on Mr. McCallum’s McQueen farm several miles west of here, found his wife gone and no supper cooked, made inquiry and was told she had gone to a neighbor’s to borrow some kerosene oil. After waiting a reasonable time for her to return, he went in search. Not finding her at the neighbor’s, he went to a vacant house on the farm and found her in company with another man. Getting a switch, he whipped her about half the distance from there to the house in which they lived with his mother-in-law and other members of the family, who upon hearing the row went to her assistance with various and sundry weapons, and when they began to crowd him he shot, the ball hitting her in the lower part of her stomach and lodging in her intestines.

Dr. E.G. McMillan of Maxon was called and upon investigation rushed her to a Hamlet hospital, where an operation was performed and at latest accounts she was getting along as well as could be expected. Bostic has not been apprehended at this writing.

From the front page of the Robesonian, Lumberton, N.C., July 1, 1926

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Dr. Houston's Stolen Hudson Found in Ditch, July 2, 1926

Stolen Car Found Near Rockingham

The Ford roadster which was stolen here Wednesday night from in front of the residence of Dr. W. C. Houston, was located Thursday near Rockingham. The car had been driven into a ditch and abandoned. Rockingham officers knew the car was from Concord by the city license tag and they notified local officers immediately of their find.

The car was being driven by William Propst when stolen and is the property of Paul Moose. Mr. Propst parked it on North Union Street while he was telephoning and when he went to get it again, it was gone. All of the gas in the car had been consumed, this fact probably being the reason the car was left in the ditch near Rockingham.

From page 2 of The Concord Daily Tribune, July 2, 1926

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Judge Says Parents Play Role in Preventing Criminal Behavior in Boys, July 1, 1926

The Crucial Age

A Brooklyn judge said the other day “most of the criminals are boys and young men. To be exact, over 80 per cent of them are less than 25 years of age. If the people of Brooklyn ask why so many youths become criminals, I can tell them. A dozen years of investigation and experience in these matters have demonstrated that the vast majority of all the youthful offenders committed crime because they had associates and were not under the proper influences in the years when boyhood was turning into manhood—between the ages of 12 and 18. This is the most important period in a boy’s life. Then his ideals are acquired, his character formed.”

It seldom fails that when a boy is “raised on the street,” to use an expression of the streets, he grows up to be worthless and a curse instead of a joy to his parents.

You can look about any town and when you see youngsters sitting around the street corner discussing matters with older boys and men and getting wise to things or the world, you can pick some of the “black sheep” of the future.

There is nothing uplifting about the average “square” and if the boy is not careful, he will soon tire of the white [right?] ways even and long for dark retreats where he can try some of the things he hears discussed.

Parents who allow their youngsters free range between ages of 12 and 18 regret it later. We do not say that all boys who run wild at this age turn out failures but it is safe to predict that 90 percent of them suffer some experience that goes through life with them as a dark page in their history.

It is only natural that the formative age should be the crucial period in the life of the boy, and influences and habits of that age are certain to affect him in later life. Everything possible to interest the youngster in things worthwhile should be done by the parents. Neglect on their part will lead to a life of indifference quicker than anything else. If the boy can’t find comradeship and entertainment at home, he will seek it elsewhere. It is useless to try to change the nature of the boy. It is better to give wholesome recreation and comradeship than to force him to seek amusement away from home.

Editor's Note: I asked AI to compare FBI statistics today with 100 years ago. Here's what he came up with: Tt is accurate to say that males age 25 and younger are much less likely to commit crimes today than they were 100 years ago. And we can say this confidently using modern FBI Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) data. Young males (under 25) made up about 80% of offenders, according to judges, police chiefs, and early criminologists. Arrest data from the 1920s (pre‑UCR) show extremely high offending rates among boys and young men. Social conditions — poverty, lack of schooling, unstable work, no juvenile protections — pushed many young males into crime.

Today (FBI UCR data): Young males (under 25) make up about 40–50% of arrests, depending on the offense. For violent crime, the peak age is still 18–24, but the number of offenders is far lower than in the past. Juvenile crime (under 18) has fallen over 70% since the mid‑1990s. So yes — young male crime has fallen sharply.

Thanks, Copilot.

From the editorial page of The Concord Daily Tribune, July 1, 1926

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N.C. Farmers Can't Afford to Trade Horses, Mules for Tractors, July 1, 1926

Still Using Our Horses and Mules

Evidently the horse and mule is good enough for the average North Carolina farmer. From the University News Letter we learn that North Carolina ‘does not rank high in the use of farm tractors,” the percentage of tractors in the State being much lower than the average for the United States. The News Letter not only tells us that we use few tractors but it gives the further information the State ranks low “in the combined value of all farm machinery per farm.” The News Letter thus puts the data:

“According to the 1925 census of agriculture, there were 293,482 farms in North Carolina, of which 7,759 reported tractors. Only one State, Texas, reported more farms, but 17 states reported more farm tractors. Which means that when reduced to a comparable basis, per farm say, North Carolina ranks very low. North Carolina has 4.4 per cent of the nation’s farms but only 1.6 per cent of the farm tractors. Eight percent of the farms of the natin reported tractors, against only 1.6 per cent for North Carolina. North produces a large amount of farm wealth each year but she does it largely on the basis of a vast expenditure of human labor. Our per worker yield is not very large, due mainly to the fact that human labor on our farms is not reinforced with any fair amount of labor-saving, profit-producing machinery.”

There are two factors which enter into this matter—the size of North Carolina farms and the number of tenants. Our farms can be cultivated and maintained with livestock and the tenants haven’t the money to purchase the machinery, including tractors.

From the editorial page of The Concord Daily Tribune, July 1, 1926

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Gulf News Column in Chatham Record, July 1, 1926

Gulf News

Mrs. H.H. McIntyre and little daughters Joyce and Mary Katherine and Miss Atheline Thomas of Raleigh spent the week-end with Mr. and Mrs. J.W. McIntyre.

Mr. Bright Phillips of Simpson spent the week-end with home folks.

News was received here Thursday evening of the death of Mr. A.H. Seawell, chief dispatcher for the Norfolk and Southern at Raleigh. Mr. Seawell was agent here for several years, previous to the World War and liked by all who knew him.

Mr. and Mrs. Roy Knight spent the week-end with Mrs. Knight’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. Vance Ray of Moncure. Mr. and Mrs. A.M. Duval spent the week-end in Greensboro.

Mr. R.L. Oldham of Goldston spent the week-end with his sister, Mrs. Lucy A. Beale.

Miss Josephine Jordan and Clyde Jordon Jr. of Elizabethtown are visiting their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. M.J. Jordan. Mrs. Clyde Jordan is visiting her mother in California.

Miss Louise Jourdan [Jordan?], who has been on the sick list is able to be out again we’re glad to report.

Mr. and Mrs. Howard Kline of China Grove spent Sunday night with Mrs. Kline’s sister, Mrs. D.M. Tyner. Miss Annie Tyner accompanied them home for a few weeks’ visit.

Those attending the Murchison reunion at Lake View were Mr. and Mrs. G.L. Merrell, Mrs. J.R. Moore, Mr. and Mrs. D.E. Murchison and daughters, Misses Minnie and Virginia.

Mr. John Horner spent the week-end with his family here.

From the front page of the Chatham Record, Pittsboro, N.C., July 1, 1926

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