Willie Reeves Killed Working on Railroad at Micro, Sept. 14, 1926

Negro Killed on Railroad at Micro. . . Struck by Train While Driving Spikes—Body Mangled

Willie Reeves, a negro employed by the Atlantic Coast Line Railway Company, was instantly killed near Micro Saturday morning about 8 o’clock when a train struck him while he was working on the track.

Reeves was driving spikes as the train approached and those working with him called and warned him to get out of the way, but just as he started to leave the track, the train struck him. The blow on his head split it entirely open and his brains were strown along the track. Death was instant.

The coroner, Mr. C. Q. Stephenson, was called to the scene, but an inquest was deemed unnecessary.

Reeves was a stranger in this county. Only a few days ago he was employed by the railroad company, but apparently no one in this section knew anything of his history.

The body was turned over to the railroad company for burial.

From the front page of the Smithfield Herald, Sept. 14, 1926

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Third Blaze in Ashley Smith Building in Two Years, Sept. 14, 1926

Building Catches Fire Third Time. . .Flames Extinguished In Short Time; Damage Estimated at About $500

Saturday a little past midnight, before the town had hardly settled down for its nightly slumber, the fire company was aroused and called to the business district. A blaze had been discovered in the Ashley Smith buildings on Market street. The fire was burning in the second story in a room used by Isaac Woodard, Smithfield colored undertaker. Indications are that the fire caught in a barrel of old trash. This room is over the store formerly occupied by the Vara L. Smith company. This was the third fire discovered in this building within two years.

The fire company had little trouble in extinguishing the blaze, and in 10 minutes the excitement was practically all over. The store under the room where the fire caught being vacant, there was little damage on account of water. The Ideal Pharmacy and millinery shops of Mrs. A. W. Smith were slightly damaged. The entire loss has been estimated at about $400.

From the front page of the Smithfield Herald, Sept. 14, 1926

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Randolph County Fair to Pause to Give Thanks, Sept. 16, 1926

Thanksgiving Service at the Fair Grounds. . . For 2 Minutes Fair will Pause to Return Thanks and Gratitude for Bountiful Crops

A most impressive thanksgiving service will be held at the Randolph county at 12 o’clock, noon, next Wednesday when pause will be made for two minutes to return thanks for the bountiful crops with which the county has been blessed this season.

At a signal given at 12 o’clock sharp, everything in the fairgrounds, every person, show or concession, will remain perfectly quiet for two minutes while ministers of the town and county will return thanks from their different stations within the grounds.

This service will be in keeping with similar services held in various parts of the State this year. Much has been said about a similar service in this count, and it has been deemed that one day during the fair would be an appropriate time in order that the people of the entire county could join in the expression of gratitude and thanksgiving.

From the front page of The Courier, Asheboro, N.C., Thursday, September 16, 1926

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What N.C. Farmers Grow Along with Cotton, Sept. 16, 1926

Activity of the Farmers

Charlotte Observer

Of course the persons looking for other things that cotton on the farms in “mixed” farming North Carolina, can find them in abundance. The public mind is so much obsessed with cotton that it can’t vision anything else.

This year the farmers raised 371,580,000 pounds of tobacco, and that they bent their backs to the task is indicated in the fact that they mad each acre produce 660 pounds of the weed. How much did they make on this tobacco? It was all sold at an average $25.90 a pound. Figure it up. As a matter of course, some farmers made more than others, for the highest price paid was $30.70 on the Greenville market.

Then, there’s the matter of the humble peanut. Of this commodity the farmers raised 200 million pounds, which is 25 per cent more than the five year’s average. The farmers have grown a sweet potato crop 12 per cent larger than last year. The corn crop is 25 per cent larger, while the whole state is glutted with apples. The output in white potatoes is 7,447,500 bushels.

All travelers must have noticed the multiplicity of cane mills along the highways, and indications of the activity of these mills, which is that North Carolina is making its own molasses. “Sorghum” syrup is evidently coming back into popularity, because the output this year is 2.9 million gallons, against 1.9 million gallons last year.

The average yield of corn to the acre was 22 bushels, and the state farmers topped the production record this year with 50,468,000 bushels.

The state has been growing more soy beans than any other state in the nation, but the farmers are slowing up in that direction because of low prices. Likewise, they have had this year much dry weather and poor stands, and the crop will be the smallest in several seasons. As an offset, they have raised a bumper crop of cowpeas, 49 per cent of the average having been harvested for hay, to the better dieting of blooded stock.

The North Carolina farmers are headed in the right direction and in the course of a few years they will be making the state famous from the standpoint of agriculture—as famous as a farming state as the manufacturers have made it famous as an industrial state.

From page 3 of The Alamance Gleaner, Graham, N.C., September 16, 1926

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V.T. Wood Uses Explosive to Drain Pastureland, Sept. 16, 1926

Reclaims Wet Land by Using Explosive

Wet, seeping, unproductive land on the dairy farm of V. T. Wood of Grahm, route one, has been reclaimed by the use of pyrotol and now, three years after the soil was blasted, excellent crops can be produced by the owner.

The reclaimed spot never produced a crop until the last three years, states Mr. Wood, but this year an average of two tons of lespedeza hay per acre was made.

On November 17 when this farm was visited by A. T. Holman, agricultural engineer at State College, and w. Kerr Scott, county agent of Alamance County, the area drained with pyrotol was in excellent shape while neighboring fields of the same Iredell soil type were too wet to plow because of the 1 ½ inches of rain falling on the previous day.

“This soil did not respond to surface or open-ditch drainage so in 1923, I decided to subsoil it with explosive, which I had purchased for blowng stumps,” says Mr. Wood. “With a large augur, I drilled holes through the soil and hard pan to rock about eight feet below the surface. These holes were placed eight feet apart each way. From the edge of this area to the branch, I had an open ditch, so I placed a line of holes in the center of the ditch at the same depth as the others. One stick of pyrotol primed with cap and sufficient safety fuse to reach the top of the ground was placed in each hole and fired. The explosion broke up the hard pan and heavy subsoil but left the surface undisturbed.”

As a result of this work, Mr. Wood refilled his open ditch and has never had any trouble with the area since. He has also used the explosive to drain a depression in another field.

“I find that dairying and diversified farming are proving successful for me, but I am working to get each acres on the farm to produce economically. I do this by removing stumps, draining my land maintaining the supply of humus in the soil,” says Mr. Wood.

From page 3 of The Alamance Gleaner, Graham, N.C., September 16, 1926

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J. Ivey Cline Preparing Poultry Exhibit for Cabarrus County Fair, Sept. 16, 1926

Fowls of Fine Feathers to Strut Stuff in Style. . . Poultry Houses at Fair to Resound to Proud “Cock-a-Doodle-Do” of Rooster and Less Violent “Cluck” the More Timid Mate—Hundreds of Entries Already Booked

Poultry raising is on the increase in Cabarrus county and evidence of this increased interest will be seen at the Cabarrus County Fair next month when hundreds of fine fowls from local flocks will be on exhibition.

J. Ivey Cline, one of the pioneer poultrymen of the county, will be in charge of the poultry exhibit again this year, and he has been assured of the largest collection of poultry in the history of the fair.

Mr. Cline stated yesterday that he has been working on his plans for the fair and expects to concentrate his efforts about two weeks before the opening. He has talked with a number of the larger chicken fanciers in the county and plans to write to others, as a reminder of the prizes to be offered for the finest birds on exhibition.

It is known, too, Mr. Cline said, that poultrymen from adjoining counties will send in their best stock for the local fair, and it is certain every pen in the two poultry houses will echo with the proud “cock-a-doodle-do” of the purebred rooster and the weaker “cluck” of his more timid mate.

Cabarrus people ae now breeding some unsually good stocks of poultry, Mr. Cline said, and the quality of the birds this year will be better than ever. Mr. Cline plans to enter a number of his fine White Leghorns and Buff Rocks.

While no addition has been made to the poultry houses, additional coops are available and every one is assured of a safe place for his birds.

A new ruling has been made for this year in regard to premiums. No money will be paid for any chickens unless an entire class is entered.

Persons planning to enter their chickens are expected to be at the grounds with them on Monday, October 11th, the day before the fair opens.

From the front page of the Concord Daily Tribune, Sept. 16, 1926

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Cotton Mills Will Go Broke If Don't Cut Production, Sept. 14, 1926

Says Radical Remedial Action is Necessary. . . President of Yarn Spinners’ Association Says Drastic Action Alone Will Save Mills

Yarn spinners here will be interested in the following from Sunday’s Charlotte News relative to a statement made Saturday by A. M. Fairley, president of Southern Yarn Spinners’ Association, with headquarters in Charlotte:

Only radical remedial action can save many plants in the cotton manufacturing industry from “the sheriff,” declared A. M. Fairley of Laurinburg, president of the Southern Yarn Spinners’ Association, in a statement made public here Saturday at the association’s offices. Mr. Fairley substantially expressed the opinion that the recently-organized Cotton-Textile Institute offers the industry its chief basis for a solution of its difficulties and urged the members of the spinners’ association to join that organization.

Mr. Fairley’s statement pointed to what was represented as a peculiar economic situation involving the textile manufacturing industry. “There are no stocks of any moment on hand at the mills, or in the possession of dealers, and, in spite of consumption being equal to or greater than demand, there has been no profit to the mills,” said the president of the spinners’ association. Tabulated reports form the State Revenue Commission of North Carolina were cited to indicate that the mills have not yet recovered from the depression of recent years and show that but very few are making any money.

Mr. Fairley announced his official endorsement and approval of the Cotton-Textile Institute, designed to further co-operative and profitable operation of the cotton industry in the South.

Thus far, over 19 million spindles have been enrolled in the Institute, and it is expected that before October 1st more than 20 million spindles will be listed in the organization.

In his letter to cotton spinners, Mr. Fairley pointed to the failure in the past several years of most of the manufacturers and spinners to secure “a new dollar for an old one,” much less to make any degree of deserved profit. Mr. Fairley stated that a lack of proper distribution and unsatisfactory selling methods have been partially responsible for the signal failure of the cotton milling industry. He added that the chief trouble has been with the manufacturer himself, “because of his proneness to overproduce.”

. . . .

From page 2 of the Concord Daily Tribune, Sept. 14, 1926

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