Raymond Jordan, 16, Charged with Murder of Brother-in-Law George Moore, Oct. 4, 1926

Youth Faces Murder Charge. . . Tragic Sequel to Visit of Railway Engineer to Get Wife Stirs Winfall. . . Raymond Jordan, Aged 16, Accused in Death of Brother-in-Law, George Moore, Who Succumbed today at Hospital Here after Fracture of Skull

Stark tragedy followed close on the heels of George Moore, railway engineer, when he came out from Baltimore this week-end to take his wife back to the Maryland city with him.

Moore is dead. His brother-in-law Raymond Jordan, 16, is charged with murder. And the little village of Winfall, in which the tragedy occurred, is astir with such excitement as has not been known there in a generation.

Young Jordan was re-arrested this morning on a charge of murder, and at 1 o’clock today was lodged in Hertford without bail, pending a preliminary hearing, the time for which has not yet been fixed. Authorities at Hertford were reported over long distance telephone this afternoon as desiring to get in touch with Solicitor Small before any preliminary hearing is held.

Whether preliminary hearing is held or waived, it appears a practical certainty that young Jordan will be tried for murder at the next term of Perquimans Superior Court. He is said to have admitted having struck down Moore, claiming he had to do it in defense of his father. The hearing was to be held some time today before Justice of the Peace Darden.

The next term of Superior Court in Perquimans convenes on the first Monday in November four weeks from today.

Winfall folk blame Moore’s father-in-law, Alex Jordan, for the killing. Moore came out Friday at the end of his run on the western Maryland Railroad, between Baltimore and Elkins West Virginia, with the intention of taking his wife back to Baltimore with him, and leaving the little home they had established in Chapanoke, not far from the home of her parents near Winfall.

Moore went to Alex Jordan’s home Friday night. His wife had been staying there while he as on the run. Jordan, who is described as a man of violent temper, opposed the idea of his daughter’s going to Baltimore, farm from her kin. He is said to have threatened Moore with a shotgun.

The younger man defied him, laughed at him. “Your gun won’t shoot,” he is quoted as saying, derisively. Jordan pointed it into a nearby treetop and pulled the trigger. It went off. Again the son-in-law is said to have taunted him, where upon the older man went into the house and the younger departed.

Next morning in Winfall, the two men met in front of a barber shop. Words followed. According to one version, Moore threw down Jordan and sat on him, more or less in horseplay, laughingly telling him he ought to beat him.

It was then that the younger Jordan is declared to have come up from behind, brandishing a piece of two-by-four scantling about four feet long, with Moore unaware of his presence. Witnesses declare he struck Moore back of the head the first time, and when the stricken man slumped over, hit him two terrific blows on the forehead. Moore lapsed into unconsciousness.

Moore was taken to his home at Chapanoke and was attended there by Dr. G. E. Newby of Hertford. Saturday night, it was decided to bring him to the Elizabeth City Hospital. He arrived there about 10 o’clock, and was under the constant supervision of surgeons and nurses until about 12:30 o’clock this morning, when he died without ever having regained consciousness.

An X-Ray examination made at the hospital yesterday disclosed a fracture at the base of Moore’s skull, under the left ear. The body was taken to Ziegler’s undertaking parlors here early today for preparation for burial.

Besides his wife, Moore is survived by two small sons. He was apparently about 45 years old, according to those who attended him at the hospital. A brother, Jim Moore, living at 3707 Mt. Pleasant avenue, Baltimore, was notified of his death today, and burial arrangements were being held on pending word from him.

Raymond Jordan was arrested shortly after his alleged attack on Moore, and was released under $1,000 bond by Justice of the peace Darden in Hertford, pending the outcome of Moore’s injuries. He was charged with assault. This charge was changed to murder today, when news of Moore’s death reached Hertford, and Sheriff Whit Wright of Perquimans set out this morning to re-arrest the boy on the latter charge.

Though only 18 years old, Raymond Jordan is described as a powerfully built fellow, weighing close to 175 pounds. Moore is given an excellent name by those who knew him in Winfall, and high indignation is expressed over the tragic outcome of his return to Perquimans in quest of his wife

Another version of the stack which apparently is not quite as well founded as the first, is that when Moore and the elder Jordan met in Winfall Saturday morning, Jordan fell on is knees before his son-in-law, and begged him not to hurt him. “Get up,” Moore is said to have told him. “I’m not going to hurt you.” According to this account, the younger Jordan then struck down Moore without the latter ever having touched his father-in-law.

From the front page of the Daily Advance, Elizabeth City, N.C., Monday evening, Oct. 4, 1926

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Newspapers Condemn Needless "Riot Test Call," Oct. 4, 1926

Comments of State Press on the “Riot Test Call”

Probably nothing that has ever occurred in the State has brought out more universal and severe condemnation from the State press than the call sent out from High Point this week asking police chiefs to rush all available police officers to that city to demonstrate how quickly police officers could be assembled in the event of a “riot call” should be sent out. The following are some of the comments.

Statesville Daily

“This sent policemen frm various towns tearing over the highway sin cars at top speed, endangering their own lives and the lives of all others on the highway, not to mention the violation of all speed laws which these officers in the regular course of business are expected to enforce. It was a fool stunt and criminal as well, because no earthly good could be accomplished by the racing. All the officers who violated the speed laws in this fool racing stunt should be sent to jail and those reponsible for putting it on will get what is coming to them if they are mulcted in damages on account of the wreck of the Charlotte car.”

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Hickory Record

“That was the signal that sets many good policemen off on that monumental piece of absurdness that has taken the lives of two Charlotte officers. The idea of grown men, to say nothing of policemen, playing riot in High Point! Nothing could have been more childish than that telegram. Tlhe playful mind that devised that stunt should be given a doll house and tin soldiers the next time he want to pretend there is a riot somewhere. And who gave the policemen authority to violate every known speed law on the statute books? Who is in a position to give them that authority? And what right have they to endanger the lives of other citizens unless the occasin is of dire necessity? Aside from the sadness of the two deaths, there is nothing to be aroused but the most profound indignation.”

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Charlotte News

“Nobody has any right to give a policeman the authority to ignore the laws of th estate when he is out on unofficial business, which this was. The highways are the State’s. They belong to none of the municipalities and even though priority rights in them were owned by the municipalities, the offices of these, excepting when they are duty bound, can not be alloed the privilege of violating the law of the roads at will and random. The law relates that any man, civilian or uniformed officer off duty, exceeding a speed of 35 miles an hour on the roads of the state is arrestable, and punishable. Nobody will question that the officers not only of Charlotte but of every other city who engaged in this piece of tomfoolery, went far over that limit.”

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Morganton News-Herald

“The accident experienced by the Charlotte policemen inth e race to the policemen’s convention in High Point was not any more than might have been expected, and the wonder is that in such foolhardy contest there were not more and possibly more serious accidents. It is absurd and absolutely inconsistent on the fact of the proposition that officers, who aresworn to uphold and enforce the law, including the speed law, would break themselves set out deliberately to break the same law, whether it be in a contest or any other undertaking. The whole plan is one that should have been frowned on from the start, and it is hardly conceivable how the policemen’s organization in the State gave sanction and approval to such a race. It does not reflect credit on Morganton that the Morganton force came second in the race. None of the towns which took part in the contest are to be commended for the participation.”

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Mooresville Enterprise

“Any set of men who are sworn to protect the lives and property of the people and to vigorously uphold the laws of to land, to indulge in such a ‘riot race,’ as participated in one last Tuesday when the police officers of the State were competing for a prize for the fastest time made in reaching High Point from their respective cities and towns and to violate the State law by speeding, menacing the lives of themselves and others, should not be permitted to serve as an officer of the law in any capacity. The town or city officials who would offer prizes and induce other officers to engage in such a contest, should be made parties to the crime and indicted for the injury or death of any or all people who took any part in it. Officers with such little forethought or consideration for the law and the lives and safety of others, should be placed in confinement, that than let run at large. Because a man is an officer, there are no special privileges for him on the statute books, and they are not to be privileged any more than other citizens. The men who are responsible for such a contest should be held responsible for their act, which was a riot within the strict meaning of the word.”

From the editorial page of the Concord Daily Tribune, Monday, Oct. 4, 1926

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Selling Meat from Hogs with Cholera a Serious Crime, Says Editor, Oct. 4, 1926

Selling Diseased Meats

Statesville Daily

A Forsyth citizen was hauled before a magistrate for selling diseased meat—hogs alleged to be infected with cholera. The magistrate found the accused guilty and gave him the limit of his jurisdiction—30 days in jail, which is too little if the man is guilty. The defendant denies that the hogs were diseased and appeals his case.

Unless he is able to show a clean bill of health for his actin in the matter the igher court should impose punishment in accordance with the crime. It is possible that diseased animals may be killed and sold for food without the owner having knowledge of the disease, or suspecting it. In such case he would of course be punished lightly, if at all. But inasmuch as there are people who knowingly and willfully sell diseased meat, the discovery of the disease prompting quick sale, if the meat is found impure the burden is on the accused to show that he was without knowledge of the facts.

The sale of tainted or diseased meats, or impure food, is the same as putting poison in the food. The seller might forbear if he believed that serious consequences would result. But no matter what his intent, he is guilty of selling poisoned food and should be punished as one who deliberately attempts to take a life. When he willingly and knowingly subjects the consumer to danger, is guilty is the same whether serious consequences result or not. The courts have the reprehensive habit of lightly regarding offenses when no serious consequences result, regardless of the potential danger. The legal practice in effect is this: You may try to kill somebody or subject them to risks that may have serious or fatal results. But if they are so fortunate as to escape, your share in the matter is lightly regarded, although you may have willed it otherwise.

From page 6 of the Concord Daily Tribune, Monday, Oct. 4, 1926

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Five End in in Hospital After Two Car Accidents, Oct. 4, 1926

Five Injured Persons Carried to Hospital. . . Four Were Hurt When Car Ran Off Fill and Other Hurt When Struck by Car

Five persons injured in auto accidents were carried to the Concord Hospital yesterday afternoon and last night.

Injuries sustained by four were such that they left the hospital after receiving treatment. These four were Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Wilson, Mrs. Lilly Frady and Miss Pauline Frady. They were slightly hurt when their car dashed over an embankment just south of Concord.

The fifth is C. C. Lambert of Kannapolis, who was struck there by an auto late yesterday afternoon. He suffered severe injuries to his face and head but is not though to be seriously hurt. He stated this morning that he did not know who as driving the car which struck him as he started to cross Main Street in Kannapolis. He was brought to the hospital by a Kannapolis police officer. His left eye is completely closed, he has a scalp wound just over the left eye, several scratched and bruises on his face and both hands partially lacerated.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Frady and Miss Frady were returning to Concord from Tucker’s Chapel, where it is reported Mr. Wilson had preached during the day. At a point just south of Concord, Mrs. Wilson for some reason caught hold of the steering wheel, sending the car down a 10-foot embankment.

Mrs. Frady suffered a scalp wound that required several stitches and others in the car were scratched and bruised but none was badly hurt.

From page 5 of the Concord Daily Tribune, Monday, Oct. 4, 1926

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Man Seizes Edna Sanders' Arm, Ernest Wright Chases Him, He Strikes Mr. Wright on Head and Escapes, Oct. 4, 1926

Unidentified Negro Attacks Woman on the Street

Robbery is believed to have been the motive of an attack by an unidentified negro on Miss Edna Sanders of this city, Saturday night at about 9:15 o’clock, just after she had crossed the Charles Creek bridge on Riverside avenue, on her way to her home on Morgan street. The negro escaped after striking Ernest Wright, young white man who was pursuing him, on the back of the head and rendering him partially unconscious. He is still being sought by police.

Miss Sanders’ assailant overtook her just past the bridge and seized her by the arm. She called for help and he ran, with Wright, who had heard her outcry, in full pursuit in his automobile. Wright overtook the fugitive in the colored section of Southern avenue and tried to hold him, but was forced to release the negro when the latter struck him on the head with a brick or other hard object.

Police were notified immediately and made an extensive search of the section in which the negro last had been seen, but without avail. Wright had practically recovered from the effects of the blow on his head today.

From the front page of the Daily Advance, Elizabeth City, N.C., Monday evening, Oct. 4, 1926

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Personals in the Daily Advance, Oct. 4, 1926

Personals

Miss Elizabeth Hathaway, now a teacher in the Rocky Mount High School, returned home Saturday to spend the week end with her mother, Mrs. J. D. Hathaway on Colonial Avenue. She was accompanied by Miss Florence Faison of Rocky Mount.

Miss Marie and Margaret leRoy and Willis Lee motored to Norfolk Saturday to see “The Green Hat.”

W.G. Gaither motored to Rocky Mount Saturday.

Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Belanga returned Thursday from their wedding trip to northern cities. They were accompanied home by Irving LeRoy of Washington, D.C., who will spend several days here as the guest of his grandmother, Mrs. Mary J. Hughes on West Church street.

Mr. and Mrs. Calvin H. Twiddy and little daughter, Alice jean, left Saturday for Cape Chrles where they will visit Mrs. Twiddy’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Warren.

Miss Mary Lee Stott, Mrs. Graham Bell, Mrs. N. Earle Griggs and Arthur Gallop motored to Norfolk Friday evening to see “The Green Hat.”

Misses Isabel Meekins and Mary Meekins spent Thursday in Norfolk shopping.

Judge I. M. Meekins spent the week end with his family in this city.

Senator P. H. Williams and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Baum left Friday for Durham, where Mr. Baum was called to the bed-side of his brother, who is very ill.

From page 3 of the Daily Advance, Elizabeth City, N.C., Monday evening, Oct. 4, 1926

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Miss Roberts, Mr. Temple Wed at Home of Rev. Prevost, Oct. 4, 1926

Temple-Roberts

A quiet wedding was solemnized Saturday afternoon at the home of Rev. R. W. Prevost when Miss Minnie Estelle Roberts became the bride of William Oscar Temple, both of this city. Immediately after the wedding the bride and bridegroom left for Norfolk.

Mrs. Roberts is well known in the city. She was the stenographer of County Superintendent of Education, M. P. Jennings. Mr. Temple is employed with the Banks Wholesale Company of this city. They will make their home here.

From page 3 of the Daily Advance, Elizabeth City, N.C., Monday evening, Oct. 4, 1926

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