George Wakefield Committed Suicide After He Murdered Bertha Ansell, Aug. 6, 1926

Murderer Died by Own Hand . . . Wakefield’s Body Found in Skiff Where He Shot Himself Weeks Ago

The law’s hunt for George S. Waterfield ended this week when the body of the man who cruelly murdered 17-year-old Bertha Ansell three weeks ago was found in a Cove off Furby’s Island, eight miles from Currituck Courthouse.

The body was badly decomposed, and the top of Waterfield’s head was blown off. His gun and an empty shell lay in the boat. A coroner’s jury decided that Waterfield died by his own hand. He evidently had killed himself the night he escaped after killing Miss Ansell and wounding her companion, William Tatem. For Waterfield soon realized the rashness of his act, the futility of escape, and believing all that was near and dear to him was lost, decided to end it all. The body was discovered Tuesday morning by Joe Litchifield, a fisherman.

Before making his escape from Knotts Island, he left his watch, to be given his 2-year-old son when he reached manhood, and 90 cents, all he had in the world, with his aged mother.

The shooting of Miss Ansell is said to have followed a quarrel between Waterfield and his wife, in which he accused of his wife of accepting attentions from Charles Ansell, father of the girl. The quarrel ran to a fury, with curses and blows being passed, and just at the end of this argument, Miss Ansell and her suitor William Tatem came by. Tatem started an argument with Waterfield, alleging that he had been talking about Miss Ansell, and the outcome was, Waterfield, who was then believed to have just started out gunning for Ansell, raised his gun, and shot the girl dead, and wounded Tatem.

The fears of Charles Ansell, that Waterfield would return and kill him are at an end. But he has lost a daughter and Mrs. Waterfield a husband. Whether the two will try to share their losses together is now a matter of speculation among the neighbors.

From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Friday, Aug. 6, 1926

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City Manager Says He Will Sue Those Who Slander Him, Aug.6, 1926

Ferebee Says He Will Bring Suits Against the Culpeppers and Jones. . . City Manager Asserts That He Has Been Grossly Slandered and Thinks Suits Instituted by Him Will Bring Out the Real Facts About Grafting on City Contracts and Purchases

The charges of graft in which prominent Elizabeth City business men and members of the city administration are named will be aired in the courts. City Manager Miles W. Ferebee says that he will himself take the imitative by instituting suits for slander against W. L. Jones, president, and L. B. Culpepper, secretary and treasurer of the W. L. Jones Construction Company, and possibly George Culpepper, dealer in automobiles, road machinery and almost everything else that street paving and road contractors use.

At a meeting of the Board of Aldermen Monday night, the City Manager called for an investigation of every purchase made by his office during his administration. A citizens committee composed of C. E. Thompson, L. R. Foreman and J. B. Flora was appointed upon motion of alderman Jerry Hughes. But the City Manager has no idea that this committee without judicial powers can proceed far enough to suit him.

“I shall not be satisfied,” says Mr. Ferebee, “until the malicious business of hampering the city administration and grafting upon its contracts is broken up and I believe I owe it to myself and to the city to enter suits against every man against whom I have concrete evidence.

“In their despicable business of loading up contracts with commissions for themselves certain men, notably L. B. Culpepper and W. L. Jones, have represented to various concerns doing business with the town that controlled me and certain members of the Board of Aldermen and that in order to do business with the town I had to be paid. To protect themselves these men have represented that I must not be approached personally, but could be handled only through them, and the bidders for city business were cautioned not to discuss with me the amount that they said I was to get.

“Their methods are obvious. Pretending to get money with which to bribe me, they have sought only to get money to put in their own pockets. They have put me and put the city in a false light with numerous contractors and supply houses doing business with the city and have damned my reputation by representing me as a common grafter.

“They have created the impression everywhere that no one can do business in Elizabeth City without paying graft, and the city has been constantly hampered by contractors and others padding their prices to pay secret profits to local individuals who render the city no service at all and whose only claim to a rake-off is there false representation that they have to split their profits with me.

“I have suffered under the ignominy of these false representations for months and I shall go to the courts for redress.”

Thus speaks the City Manager in an exclusive interview given this newspaper this week. Mr. Ferebee insists that he had documentary evidence upon which to proceed and says he believes that numerous contractors who have done business with the city will substantiate his charges when put on their oaths.

This then is the latest development in Elizabeth City’s latest municipal scandal.

Powers of Citizens Committee Are Limited

The public should not expect any great revelations to come from the investigation by the Aldermen’s committee. Contractors and others who have paid money to members of the Board of Aldermen or to parties claiming to influence the Board of Aldermen are not going to incriminate themselves by talking to a committee, if they can help it. The committee hasn’t the powers of a grand jury.

Contractors and others who have been approached with demands for side profits by local individuals are not willing to talk openly because their talking would incur the hostility of every grafter in Elizabeth City and every grafter in every other town in North Carolina.

From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Friday, Aug. 6, 1926

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When Mayor Asks Police Chief for Liquor--Both Agree It Was Just a Joke, Aug. 6, 1926

When Ye Mayor Asked the Chief for the Liquor. . . Chief of Police Holmes Corroborates Mayor McCabe’s Version in the Main

Reports that have kept Main Street gossip busy for the past week, to the effect that Mayor Aubrey McCabe had demanded of Chief of Police Holmes five gallons of contraband liquor under threat of dismissing the chief if he didn’t give him the liquor, are not heartily confirmed by the Chief of Police himself.

“I believe I did ask the Chief if he could’ let me have five gallons out of a lot of 55 gallons confiscated by the police some tie ago,” says Mayor McCabe, “but I was only joking and I didn’t expect to get any of the liquor, and I certainly did not threaten the Chief. That yarn must have been invented by some of my enemies.”

Chief of Police Holmes says: “The Mayor did say something to me about getting five gallons of liquor. It was on the morning after we had captured 55 gallons in the Twifford and Bateman case. I was on my way to Melick’s to get some sealing wax to seal the jugs with and passed the Mayor on Main Street in front of McCabe & Grice. I told him that I had 55 gallons of liquor in my office and I was going to put it under seal. He asked me if I couldn’t hold out five gallons for him? I told him there wasn’t a chance. If he made any threats I never heard them.”

Chief of Police Holmes says it is nothing unusual for the best citizens of the town to see him with contraband liquor, give him a sly nudge and a knowing wink and ask him if they can’t get some of it. He says he always takes these requests good naturedly. “I never pass by the side door of the First & Citizens National Bank with a jug of seized liquor that someone in the bank doesn’t yell at me or whisper to me, asking if I won’t turn it over to them,” says the Chief. “it is just a way of joking that folks have.”

The talk about Mayor McCabe seems to have originated with Trial Judge P. G.

Sawyer. It has also been given currency by Dr. A. L. Pendleton, chairman of the Public Utilities Commission. Neither Judge Sawyer nor Dr. Pendleton are friendly toward young McCabe.

The story involving Mayor McCabe has brought a lot of criticism upon the young man’s head, it being the opinion of good citizens generally that the executive head of the city should find some other way of joking with the police department.

From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Friday, Aug. 6, 1926

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Dr. John Saliba Swindled Out of $260 by Card Sharps, Aug. 6, 1926

Dr. John Saliba Easy Mark for 3 Card Sharps. . . Parted from $260 in Cash and Doped into Signing Draft for $410

Dr. John Saliba of Elizabeth City has traveled over more than half the civilized world, and is familiar with the language and customs of many countries and thinks he is thoroly cosmopolitan and world wise; but he was no match for a trio of card sharps on an Old Dominion Steamship liner from Norfolk to New York.

Three friendly young fellows took $260 in cash off Dr. Saliba on one of those steamers one night last week and then got his signature on a draft for $410 on his account at the First & Citizens National Bank in Elizabeth City. Luckily Dr. Saliba came to his senses in time to wire the bank to stop payment on the draft.

It was a hot night on the steamer and Dr. Saliba, traveling alone, looked hot an dlonesome sitting on the deck all by himself. He was wishing there were a lot of good fellows along to make the trip lively and interesting. The “good fellows” were right there and they had him spotted.

They picked a conversation with him, got him into an innocent game of bridge, then had a few drinks, changed to poker and the doctor doesn’t know what happened after that. Next morning his discovered that he was short $260, all the money he ha on his person the night before and he had a hazy recollection of having signed something. What he signed was a draft for $410, which the sharpers deposited for collection the very next day. But he stopped payment on the draft and is out only $360 in cash.

He says the next time he goes to New York he’ll steer clear of Old Dominion steamers and take a guardian with him.

From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Friday, Aug. 6, 1926

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When Officials Lean on Police to Find and Return Their Illegal Liquor, Aug. 6, 1926

No Graft at Edenton but Official Fun. . . Certain Prominent Citizens Sustain a Heavy Loss When Their Liquor Is Stolen

“We don’t have any graft or attempts at bribery among our city officials; the city wouldn’t stand for that, and none of our officers would stoop that low,” declared a prominent Edenton citizen this week, “but we did have something happen here a few days ago that was about as sensational as your turn-up over in Elizabeth City.”

“It seems,” he continued, “that some of our big officials were preparing to stage a little party, and hired a boat Captain to make the trip to East Lake, and bring back about 55 gallons of liquor, a jug for each man. Some of our policemen and Aldermen figured in on this deal, and so we have just learned why nothing has been done toward putting down the liquor traffic hereabouts.

“Well, the boat captain had a key to his employer’s fish house, and getting back late that night, unbeknown to the owner of the building, he ties up at the wharf and unloads his liquor in the building. But it happened that some sports abut town were having some fun down on the waterfront, and seeing something unusual that late at night going on, made a little investigation for themselves.

“the long and the short of it was that while the Captain was gone up town to collec this check for the 55 gallons at $15 per jug, these fellows down on the waterfront got into the building and got the stuff out of the way. When the Aldermen and policemen went down after their liquor, it was gone, and the alderman who had given his check for the goods ordered the bank to stop payment on his check.

“While the Captain was having a helluva time trying to collect the check on which payment had been stopped, the Aldermen were laying down the law to the policeman. “You’ve got to go after this bird, and you’ve got to catch him,” said the Alderman, “or we’ll get your job.” The policeman was in a fix and lost two days of good time trying to get onto the bird who stole the liquor.

“The Captain of the boat found that he couldn’t collect his check, and he started more trouble. It wasn’t long before he had spilled the beans all over town, and inside of 24 hours, all the drug stores were full of folks talking about the episode. And it wasn’t long either before the man who gave the check went down and settled up with the Captain, and got back the little scrap of paper that the boatman had been showing around town. But the Alderman is $165 out of pocket, and some fellow has enough wet goods to last him all summer. No, our Aldermen won’t take graft, but they are sporty fellows who like to enjoy themselves, even if they have a little hard luck while they are at it.”

From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Friday, Aug. 6, 1926

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Too Many Church-Goers Unfaithful to Spouses, Aug. 6, 1926

The Bank Clerk and The Soda Jerker. . . Small Town Stuff

“Edenton must be a wild old town according to all reports,” observed the Soda Jerker to the Bank Clerk the other morning.

“What’s the latest from Edenton?” queried the Bank Clerk.

“Why they tell me that a certain prominent professional man in that town has been running around with another man’s wife and getting away with it in fine shape until he got her in a briar patch the other night and the poor girl got hooked in the briars. He had to strike about a dozen matches to get her extricated and the light of the matches gave both of them dead away and everybody in Edenton is talking about it.”

“Well, Edenton hasn’t got a think on Elizabeth City,” said the Bank Clerk sourly. “How about that couple who ran out of gas on the Weeksville road not so long ago? Here was a prominent married woman who sets herself up as a great church worker, choir singer and all the rest of it. She takes another woman’s husband out for an evening and gets caught out at midnight with a stalled engine.

“She hails a passing car and asks them to send her help. Instead of that fool man with her keeping out of sight, he didn’t do a thing but hop on the car coming to town so that he could get home before his wife got the police looking for him. His fool break gave the whole thing away and now the town is talking about that.

“There is too much of that sort of thing going on in every little town. Now, I want you to understand me; I don’t set myself up as a Holy Moses; I’m no Puritan and I’d be one of the last persons in the world to condemn a heart-hungry man or woman, married or single, for falling in love wisely. But when people who set themselves up as shining marks of righteousness in the community conduct themselves like a lot of prostitutes and are so bold and shameless in their conduct as to attract public attention to their doings and set a rotten example for all the younger folk in the town, then I haven’t a damn bit of patience wit them.”

“Me too!” said the Soda Jerker. “But I think I’m going to church next Sunday. I haven’t been to church in a long time, but I shall drop in Sunday morning and see how well the lady sings after she has seen her picture in the paper.”

From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Friday, Aug. 6, 1926

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Unusual Revival at Mann Harbor, Aug. 6, 1926

Fanatics Fast, Preach, Pray at Manns Harbor. . . Community Upset by Remarkable Evangelist Who Refused to Eat or Accept Collections

The most remarkable religious revival of the season so far as has been reported to this newspaper comes from Manns Harbor, Dare County, where the Rev. J. G. Cox of Oriental, Pamlico County, has just closed a three weeks’ meeting, in which he asked neither for money, nor food, and with his companion-preacher Lewis, fasted without food or drink for several days.

Cox drifted into Manns Harbor several days ago, and announced himself a child of God, and by some unexplained trick got permission to hold forth in the public school building. Here he spread his blankets, sleeping by night, and preaching twice daily, threatening the wrath of God on the community, and telling his congregations that there was too much running around with neighbors’ wives.

Along in the midst of his revival, this Cox was joined by another self-appointed man of God who called himself by the name of Lewis, and declared himself a man of wonderful power, who needed o food or drink. For seven days, Lewis went without food, refusing to go to the homes of the people of the community. Neither preacher asked nor received any contributions, nor did they take up any collections during their revival, insisting that the Lord would provide.

It wasn’t long before they had aroused tremendous interest in this hospitable fishing village of 275 folk, and before long the school building was crowded, including among the crowds many of the most prominent people of the community. One night the preacher appeared on is pulpit and served notice that the front row of men had better move, if they were afraid of lightning, because God was ready to send a thunderbolt thru the room, and dire calamities would befall the village of Manns Harbor because the men of the Community, he said, had been running around with their neighbors’ wives.

“Get away from this front row,” said the preacher, “and let all who in God take their places.” Three women converts marched to the front.

“You people backsliders are a bunch of thieves, robbers and whoremongers,” declared the preacher, “and I dare either man among you to come forward and lay your hands on your wives who are up here. You are not fit to touch them.” One man walked to the front and led his wife from the building. Another citizen carried the lights from the building, and left the fanatic preaching in the dark.

Needless to say, the Methodist church, which the fanatic predicted was to be destroyed by a thunderbolt, is still standing, the preachers are gone after their week of fasting, but some of the womenfolk of the community haven’t got over their religion yet. On Sunday night, one woman awoke at 11 o’clock, declaring that the Holy Spirit was in her, and despite the efforts of her husband and neighbors, aroused the whole neighborhood and couldn’t be quieted until after half an hour or more of frenzied shouting. “If he had stayed there a week longer, I believe he would have had the whole place in an uproar,” declares one prominent Manns Harbor citizen. “It’s a good thing he got away when he did, or somebody’s home would have been busted up.”

From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Friday, Aug. 6, 1926

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