State News Summary, March 18, 1927

 “The State News,” from The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., March 18, 1927.

Digest of Things Worth Knowing About Old North State Folks and Things

Governor McLean directed Attorney General Brummitt to investigate the charges of graft against certain employes of the State Board of Health in connection with the administration of the State sanitary privy law, which were brought to public attention on the floor of the Senate by Senator Rivers D. Johnson of Warsaw in which he said that an inspector of the State Health Department contracted with a contractor to build privies for $18 and that the owner had to pay $25. In other instances, the charge for building the privies was less, Senator Johnson said, but there was a difference between the contract price and the charge to the owner.

--

N.A. Townsend of Dunn and Clayton Moore of Williamston were named by Governor A.W. McLean as the Eastern special superior court judges authorized by the emergency judges act which was passed by the 1927 General Assembly after the bill creating additional districts had gone on the political rocks surrounding any attempt to redistrict the State. Both men have served in the General Assembly since 1921. 


A.L. Clodfelter, one of the city’s well-known citizens and a Confederate veteran, died at Lexington after an illness of several days, aged 80 years. 


David B. White, youth of North Carolina, filed suit in Mecklenburg Superior Court for $10,000 against the Southern Railway, alleging arrest without cause. He stated in his complaint that he was going from Charlotte to Pelzer, S.C., to visit an uncle. He was arrested in Greenville at the railway station charged with loitering and within five hours was in shackles on the county roads.

--

Robert and Herbert Taylor, two 13-year-old boys, were found guarding a still near Greensboro. Howard Barham and A.L. Taylor are accused of being the operators. When the officers got to the still at the early morning hour they found the youngsters there. They are the youngest prisoners ever brought in by the authorities on charges connected with the making of liquor.

--

Herndon W. Goforth of Lenoir, N.C., American consul at Sao Paulo, Brazil, received four serious stab wounds inflicted at the American Consulate by an American giving his name as David Canfield. Canfield, who was arrested, claimed that he had stabbed the American consul in self-defense. He went to the consulate on private business.

--

Rev. W.L. Barre, pastor of several Baptist churches in Davidson County for the past five years or more, has received a call to the Shiloh Baptist Church in Camden County, one of the oldest Baptist Churches in North Carolina. The church in Camden was formed about 200 years ago.

--

Julius E. Jernigan, well-known Sampson County farmer, aged 72 years, who died last week, is survived by 12 children, two children having preceded him to the grave; 82 grandchildren, 15 of whom have died, bringing the number to 97, and 20 great-grandchildren.

--

Judge E.Y. Webb announced that he would appoint J.Y. Jordan of Asheville federal clerk of the Western District of the United States Court. This also means, Judge Webb stated, that the clerk’s office will be located in Asheville. Jordan has been deputy clerk in the Asheville office for four or five years.

--

A. Homer Smith, who was charged with the death of his wife and serious injury of his two sons, submitted to a charge of second degree murder, and was sentenced by Judge R.A. Nunn of New Bern, presiding in Superior Court, to not less than 10 years and not more than 15 years in the State’s prison.

--

The oldest engineer of the Seaboard railroad, “Uncle Jim” Weldon of Lewiston, died at his home following a brief illness. He was 83 years old and 62 of those years had engineered the “Huckleberry Special” between Lewiston and Portsmouth.

--

H. Lee Wesey of Winston-Salem was killed near Salisbury on the national highway when a car in which he was riding turned over. E. Donichy of Greensboro, who was driving the car, escaped with minor injuries.

--

Herbert M. Poe, Atlantic Coast Line engineer, prominent Masonic and fraternal leader and secretary of the Seaside Division of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, died at Rocky Mount after a brief illness with pneumonia.

--

Miss Iona Allen, girl wife of Taylor Allen, died in Mt. Airy as a result of a pistol wound in the throat. Her slayer was Tommy Martin, aged about 17, who was playing with a pistol.

--

Dr. Thomas A. Bohannon, for many years a leading citizen and medical practitioner, died at his home in Burlington after a long confinement caused by a fall in which he fractured his hip. He was 86 years old.

--

The North Carolina Board of Nurse Examiners will hold examinations in Raleigh in the House of Representatives April 12^th, 13^th and 14^th, according to the secretary, Mrs. Z.V. Conyers of Greensboro.

--

Appointment of Pardon Commissioner H. Hoyle Sink and Thomas G. Bowie of Asheville County to be special superior court judges was announced by Governor W.A. McLean, who is spending several days at Pinehurst.

--

Charged with an attempted criminal attack upon Mrs. Etta Griffin, 19, who alleged that he forced her into his automobile at the point of a pistol near Wilmington, W.T. Benson, 22, of Summer Hill was jailed without bond.

--

R.D. Thompson Jr., four-month-old son of Mr. and Mrs. R.D. Thompson of Raleigh Was found dead. The baby was having been accidentally smothered to death as he slept in bed with his mother.

--

John Hardy, white, and Leonard Williams, negro, dead, and Cam Pridgen, white, and three other negroes were seriously injured as the result of a boiler explosion near Warsaw.

--

A.C. (Sandy) Kelly, former sheriff of Moore County, died suddenly a few days ago following an acute indigestion which lasted about 10 minutes.

--

Verdict of murder in the second degree was returned at Hendersonville by the jury trying William Bennison for the slaying of federal prohibition agent V.E. Grant last June.

--

Unidentified robbers took around $250 in cash and checks Tuesday night during the supper hour from the grocery store of H.C. Armstrong at New Bern.

--

“Be happy, honest, and live moderately,” was the recipe given by Mrs. Jane Childers of Dillsboro on the occasion of her 104^th birthday to those who would live a long life.

--

Within two hours after a divorce had been granted Mrs. Lula F. Jones in Wake superior court from George M. Jones, 68, the latter married Mrs. Arratta Bryant, 55.

--

Luke, the 17-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Luke Mizell of Brown Spring section near Williamston, died from a gunshot wound accidentally inflicted when a gun fell from a wagon.