Perry Melton Arrested for Shooting His Nephew, Henry Melton, 23, Oct. 11, 1926

Four Arrested in Brawl After One Man Was Wounded. . . Henry Melton Was Severely Wounded When Shot by His Uncle, Perry Melton, Yesterday. . . Three Women Are Being Held. . . They Are Alleged to Have Taken Part in Brawl Which Resulted in the Shooting

Asheville, Oct. 11 (AP)—While Henry Melton, 23, of Black Mountain hovers between life and death at a local hospital as a result of bullet wounds inflicted yesterday during a brawl on the Rainbow Gap highway, four persons, including three women, are under arrest today in connection with the affair.

Perry Melton, uncle of the wounded man, is being held in the Buncombe County jail charged with the shooting. The women, Juanita Wheeler, May Wheeler and Willie Lee Sutton, are charged with aiding and abetting and with operating a public nuisance.

Perry Melton and Juanita Wheeler were arrested yesterday afternoon shortly after the affray by Chief of Police L. R. Powers of Black Mountain, and were brought to the county jail later in the day.

May Wheeler and the Sutton woman were captured by Powers today in the Black Mountain railroad station. They will be brought to Asheville today by Sheriff E. M. Mitchell for safe keeping.

According to Chief Powers, the shooting followed an alleged drunken brawl at the Melton home in which nearly a score of persons participated. The party, according to witnesses, got “too rough” for Perry Melton, who went to his own home, returning shortly after with a shotgun.

As Henry Melton approached him a few minutes later, the uncle is said to have fired at close range, inflicting an ugly wound in the young man’s side, and crushing several ribs.

From the front page of the Concord Daily Tribune, Monday, Oct. 11, 1926

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After Dave Graham Asks Men to Not Curse in Front of His Children, They Shoot Him, Oct. 11, 1926

Objected to Curses and Was Wounded. . . Dave Graham Shot by Man Who He Said Cursed in Presence of His Children

Asheville, Oct. 11 (AP)—Because, it is claimed, he sought to shield his three small children from the sound of improper language, Dave Graham of Hot Springs today is in a local hospital here suffering from gunshot wounds about the face and right shoulder, and may lose the sight of his right eye.

As a result of the shooting, which took place late Saturday in the yard of the Graham home on Paint Rock Road, two men, Willie Lundy and Clyde Gosnell, are being held today by Chief of Police Craig Ramsey in the Hot Springs jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon. Graham said the shooting came about when he remonstrated with the men because of improper language in the presence of his children.

From the front page of the Concord Daily Tribune, Monday, Oct. 11, 1926

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Junius Powell Ready to Serve Prison Term for Forgery, Oct. 11, 1926

Powell Is Ready to Serve His Prison Term. . . Did Not Appeal and Is Expected at State Prison During This Week

Raleigh, Oct. 11 (AP)—Junius K. Powell of Warsaw is expected at the State prison early this week to begin a sentence of five to seven years imposed upon him Saturday at Keanansville by Judge W. A. Devin. Powell was found guilty of forgery in connection with the issuance of spurious notes of the town of Warsaw.

A report Saturday at Powell had appealed from the judgment of the court was erroneous. After being sentence, he entered a plea of nolo contender to 27 other counts against him in connection with the same matter, and Judge Devin ordered the cases closed without further action.

Powell was convicted along with Henry L. Stevens Sr. of Warsaw. Stevens was granted until the January term of court to make good approximately $100,000 of the spurious notes. Prayer for judgment was continued until that time, and decision on motion to set aside the verdict also was reserved until January.

From the front page of the Concord Daily Tribune, Monday, Oct. 11, 1926

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George Toms, UNC Junior, Dies in Car Accident Oct. 10, 1926

George Toms Killed When Car Overturns. . . University Junior Met Instant Death in Wreck on Durham-Chapel Hill Road

Chapel Hill, Oct. 10—George N. Toms of Durham, a junior in the University of North Carolina, son of Clinton W. Toms, vice president of the American Tobacco Company, was killed instantly in an automobile accident near here on the Durham-Chapel Hill highway shortly after midnight last night, when a Jackard [Packard?] sedan in which he and a fellow student, Jack Cobb, also of Durham, were returning to Chapel Hill overturned down a six-foot embankment.

The cause of the accident probably will remain a mystery. Toms was driving the car and Cobb was asleep when the accident occurred. The crash is believed to have killed Toms instantly, his chest being horribly crushed when he was extricated from the wreckage. Cobb was badly stunned but recovered sufficiently to pull himself out of the wreckage and to go for help after he found it impossible to extricate Toms. He reached a nearby farmhouse and telephoned to Chapel Hill.

There was no liquor in the car and no evidence that the students had been drinking. The car was the property of Garrett Morehead of Charlotte, a member of the Carolina football team. Cobb escaped with minor injuries.

From the front page of the Concord Daily Tribune, Monday, Oct. 11, 1926

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Joe E. Orr Was Last in Line of Three Charlotte Officers, Oct. 10, 1926

Joe E. Orr Was Last of Line

Charlotte, Oct. 9 (AP)—For the first time in three-quarters of a century, there is no Orr on the roles of the local police department.

The death of Joe E. Orr, chief of detectives, in an automobile accident last week, removed the last of the line. Mr. Orr’s father, Joe Orr, was with the department 41 years, and when he died in 1906, he was chief. Then two of his sons, Joe E. and Walter Ar., followed in his footsteps. Walter resigned three years ago while in office as chief, and Joe was head of the detectives division when death overtook him while speeding to High Point to answer a test “riot call.”

From page 7 of the Goldsboro News, Sunday morning, Oct. 10, 1926

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Charlotte Police Hammer Confiscated Weapons, Throw Them Away, Oct. 10, 1926

Police Throw Pistols Away

Charlotte, Oct. 9 (AP)—Confiscated weapons don’t worry the Queen City police long.

Be they expensive imported German eight-shooters or the negro’s favorite hollow-ground razor, they are all hammered into one shapeless mass and thrown away by the police after confiscation, Chief Alex West has averred. In answer to the question of what the police did with captured artillery and cutlery.

All of which appears to answer the oft-repeated rumor that the coppers kept the confiscated stuff for curios or convert it to their own use.

From page 7 of the Goldsboro News, Sunday morning, Oct. 10, 1926

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James A. Bostian, 80-Year-Old Confederate Vet, Has Died, Oct. 11, 1926

Death of James A. Bostian

James A. Bostian, aged 80 years, died suddenly last Saturday at China Grove, as he was on his way from a point on the east side of the railroad to the home of his daughter, Mrs. Ernest Sloop, who lives on the national highway in the southern part of that town. He made his home with Mrs. Sloop. Surviving are several other daughters and a sister. He was the grandfather of Messrs. Ray and Banks Sloop of Salisbury.

The funeral and burial took place at Concordia church, several miles west of China Grove, Sunday afternoon at 3 o’clock.

The deceased was a Confederate veteran and was one of the best known men in the China Grove section, and was regarded highly by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

From page 2 of the Concord Daily Tribune, Monday, Oct. 11, 1926

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