Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Pages 3 and 4, May 25, 1923

Ads on page 3 and 4, The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., May 25, 1923

2-piece Sterling Silver Steak Set for $5, Paul-Gale-Greenwood Co., Largest Jewelers South, Norfolk, Va.

Photographic needs—Hall Optical Co., Richmond or Norfolk, Va.

The Independent Printery, Elizabeth City, N.C., for good printing.

111 Cigarettes—a pack of 24 for 15 cents

Because the mail must go through, they use Standard Motor Gasoline, Standard Oil Company, New Jersey

Refrigerator cars daily from Pocomoke Warehouse at Depot, Spence-Hollowell Co.

Vitralite White Enamel, “61” floor varnishes, “Effecto” auto enamel, Johnson’s floor was and wood filler, B.P.S. Paints and Varnishes, Culpepper Hardware Company, Elizabeth City

White materials display unusual prettiness at Miller, Rhoads & Swartz, Norfolk, Va.

Ames & Brownley “Special” Silk Hose at Aims & Brownley Inc., Norfolk Va.

Carolina Banking & Trust Co., Elizabeth City, Columbia and Hertford

Summer Frocks for Every Hour from M. Leigh Sheep Co., Woman’s Wear

Check your victory bonds, says First & Citizens National Bank, Elizabeth City

Don’t miss your chance! C.A. Cooke, Head-to-Foot Outfitters, Elizabeth City

Railroad Bridge Where Grant, Gould Died, May 25, 1923

Beneath this twisted mass of wreckage of the Norfolk Southern railroad bridge at Hertford, two men lost their lives when the locomotive and one freight car of train Number 63 crashed thru the bridge and fell 27 feet to the bottom of Perquimans River Friday night. The tragedy is about the most exciting thing that has happened in the history of the railroad at Hertford. It is estimated that fully 5,000 people visited the scene of the accident Sunday. The accident at Hertford has raised a lot of speculation about the security of other bridges of the Norfolk Southern. This accident has thrown a lot of fear in those of the travelling public who are acquainted with the types of structures over which Norfolk Southern trains travel daily. The Norfolk Southern has a bridge over the Albemarle Sound seven miles long. If an accident like this were to happen to a passenger train on that bridge the results would be hard to prophesy. The men who were penned in the submerged locomotive were Conductor Will A. Grant and Fireman Jesse Gould, both of Norfolk. Their bodies were recovered Tuesday. When the accident happened, Engineer Braxton Warren and Brakeman Frank Bernard jumped from the locomotive and swam ashore. Repairs to the broken bridge were completed Wednesday and trains are now going thru Hertford without interruption. The above picture is from a snapshot photo by D.V. Meekins.

From page 2 of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., May 25, 1923

Marked Improvements in Schools, Says Mabel Bright, May 25, 1923

A Broader Scope and More Effective Work. . . General Work of Elizabeth City Schools Shows a Marked Improvement Recently

By Mabel Bright

There was a time, not longer than five or six years ago, when an English teacher in the Elizabeth City Graded Schools reproved her class for saying correctly that Robert Burns was the author of the well-known lines:

O wad some gift the giftie gi’ us

To see ourselves as ithers see us---

“Why no!” she answered with emphasis, “that is the most famous quotation from Shakespeare’s Hamlet!” That same year an instructor who had taught high-school Latin the past session was asked by a group of Latin students in the class-room one day who wrote Vergil. She said she had forgotten! And still further, the graduating class that year was obliged to take over all of the geometry and algebra they had studied the year before in which they had successfully passed their examinations. The school authorities had retained for the whole previous year the services of a mathematics teacher whom they considered utterly incompetent and allowed him to continue his work at the expense of his students.

All that seems to be a thing of the past now. If the staff of teachers at work here this year are not perfect, it must be remembered that perfection is humanly unattainable, and they are certainly a credit to the town and the school and a great help to the pupils. The wrangling shades of Burns and Shakespeare are no longer discerned hovering fearfully on the edges of the English classes in wait for fresh outrages to be committed upon their memories. The great old Roman, Vergil, the immortal bard whom Tennyson calls the “wielder of the stateliest measures every molded by the lips of man,” may now lift his head and forget the same of the implication that anybody “wrote” him. And even old Euclid, who has always rather seemed to deserve a little retaliation in the way of torment, doubtless breathes more easily when it is proved that “In the right-angled triangle the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the two sides.” Better times have come, and they have come to stay.

Doubled In Three Years

The Elizabeth City Graded Schools have increased in quantity as well as in quality. For example, the graduating class of 1918 numbered just 18 students, while the class of 1923 is 48 strong. In five yeas the number of graduates has been almost tripled, while the lower grades in both the high-school and the grammar-school are filled to overflowing, and some of the primary classes have been forced down into basement rooms. In fact, the increased attendance is a problem that only the completion of the new high-school building will solve.

After many years of makeshift and crowded conditions during which it is said that children were actually turned away for lack of room, the town saw the need of larger quarters and the erection of a splendid building was begun on the site of the old Davis lot just across the present high-school on Road street. Work on this continues slowly, but to those who have fought and plead for it for years and years it is a triumph and a victory. To the children and teachers who have been working at such a disadvantage it is a chance of bigger and better things. Ever since the school began taking an interest in basketball the teams have been obliged to use the gymnasium at the Community Building for their game and practices, but now with room for a gymnasium right in the school building, think what can be accomplished! The physical culture side of education has never been stressed by the schools here, but every year the value and importance of athletics seems to be more and more realized by those in authority. Whether or not regular gym work for all the classes will ever be a part of the school routine here as it is in all the city schools no one seems to be able to say just yet, but something of the kind certainly ought to be undertaken as the school enlarges.

. . . .

The Witch of Fairy Dell

The grammar and primary schools have come in lately for more than their former share of attention, although there is much yet to be desired in this respect. Only a few years ago when pupils completed all the required grammar school work they were transferred to the high school as quietly as if they had something dishonest. Now there is a regular grammar school commencement, and a yearly play or entertainment given by the combined forces of the seventh grades each spring. This year’s performance is a light opera in three acts called “The Witch of Fairy Dell” to be presented in the high school auditorium Tuesday, May 29 at 8 p.m. Music will be furnished by Miss Ethel Jones, assisted by the high school orchestra. . . .

In the cast are: Inez Hill, Virginia Hufty, Susie Davis, Mrs., Hester B. McMullan, Jane Elise Hastings, Flora Griggs, Mary Fearing, Alma Mann, Bertha Simpson, Evelyn Pickett, Margaret Connery, Keith Saunders, Earl Dean, Rennie Williams, Julian Aydlett, Tyer Sawyer, Lucille Trueblood, Myrtle Simpson, Vivien Turner, Lucille Gregory, Katherine Lister, Dorothy Richardson, Gertrude Templeman, Susie Willey, Evelyn Puckett, Naomi Bailey, Edna Sanderlin, Doris Cartwright, Naomi Woodard, Mary L. Bailey, Elvene Culver, Lillian Boyce, Mildred Lacy, Jean Hudson, Mary Leigh Shoop, Mildred Tatum, Hailie Silverthorn, Ruth Dozier, Margie Fearing, Virgilia Banks, Lydia Cohoon, Gladys Adams, Monterey Lomax, Belle Miller, Ruth Jones, Rebecca Stevens, Clara Pritchard, Kate Hall, Louise Harris, Pearl Skiles, Vertie Love, Alice Gibbs, Katie Rogerson, Helen Bright, Emerald Gregory, Gertie Cartwright.

. . . .

From page 2 of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., May 25, 1923

H.M. Curran Says Farmers Have Good Money in Timber, May 25, 1923

More Money in Timber Than in Any Other Crop. . . Here’s an Eye Opener for the Farmers of North Carolina, Thanks to Mr. Curran

The general potential wealth in North Carolina farms today is not in cotton, tobacco, potatoes, beans or in poultry and pigs, but in those neglected, abused and underappreciated acres commonly called woodlands, but properly designed as farm forests. Such is the amazing statement of H.M. Curran, farm forester of the N.C. Extension Service, the man who knows.

Mr. Curran has been making a survey of the farm forest resources in North Carolina for the past six months and the work he is doing is of immense importance to North Carolina farmers. Very few people know that there are 12 million acres of timber on North Carolina farms and that it is from these farm acres that the bulk of the timber supply for North Carolina mills (word obscured). From these 12 million acres in 1919, $35 million worth of timber was marketed at a net return of about $2 an acre to the owners.

The net return from these timber acres on North Carolina farms might as well be $5 or more an acre, which would put it above cotton, above tobacco—above anything else North Carolina farmers produce. It is Mr. Curran’s business to set up the value of the timber resources on North Carolina farms.

Wrapped Up in Whiskers

Have you ever seen this man Curran? His headquarters are in Elizabeth City and have been for six months, but not a hundred people in the town know his business. He is a tall, sinewy, clear-eyed, energetic, serious fellow, intent on his business. In fact, he is all wrapped up in his job and in a set of villainous black whiskers. With the all-seeing eyes of a true scout acquired by 20 years’ experience in forestry in the Philippines, Argentina, Brazil, the United States and Texas, and with those black whiskers, eh has thrown terror into the hearts of moonshiners in the woods and swamps of 60 Eastern North Carolina counties. The moonshiners are not acquainted with the forestry service and not understanding why a civilized man with black whiskers should be prowling thru the swamps and woods day after day, and so Mr. Curran has been a mystery and a terror to the distillers of white whiskey. Moonshiners flee before his presence, often destroying their stills, in their precipitate flight. He made an excursion to East Lake several weeks ago and threw a chill into that community from which it didn’t recover for a fortnight—which explains the dearth of East Lake Corn on the Elizabeth City wet goods market of late.

Timber Co-Ops Next

Mr. Curran is making a careful survey of the timber on North Carolina farms and is now ready to begin working with Farm Demonstration agents, showing the farmers how to make the most of the timbver they have and how to conserve their wooded acres so that the supply will not be exhausted. The next step will be to organize the farmer owners of these wooded acres for the co-operative marking of their timber. When Mr. Curran gets thru with his work, we will know exactly how much timber we have on our farms, what it is worth and where there is a market for every piece of it. Owners of timber will know where to find the best market for every piece of timber they own. Incidentally, they will know how to grow more timber at a profit. The spread of this knowledge is expected to increase the value of timber on North Carolina farms from $35 million to double or treble that amount within the next few years.

So don’t get cold feet when you see the (??) with the eagle eyes and black whiskers prowling thru your woodlands. He is taking stock of your timber and working out ways and means for it to produce more money for ??. This newspaper will tell you more about his work later.

Will Grow Some Trees of His Own

Dr. Curran makes his headquarters in Elizabeth City because, after living all over the world, he things Elizabeth City is a most delightful place to live in. He was attracted to Elizabeth City (???) its pecan trees. He has (???) to start a pecan grove ?? where the pecan ?? as right here in the Elizabeth City section. It is here ??? expects to put in a ??? and settle down to enjoy life with his interesting family as soon as he has got the farm forestry work, in which he is now engaged, sufficiently well established.

From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., May 25, 1923

Elizabeth City Mayor Ben Goodwin Will Be Busy, May 25, 1923

W. BEN GOODWIN

Elizabeth City’s Mayor for the next two years will have both hands full, and some more thrown in. Mayor Goodwin was re-elected on May 15 to serve a second term. Elizabeth City in the next two years will spend nearly a million dollars for municipally owned public utility plants, and Mayor Goodwin will have the honor of heading the city administration thru what is called the most important period to date in the city’s history. There will be a lot of money to spend, a lot of work to do and a lot of folks to satisfy. Will he get bouquets or brickbats? Photo by Zoeller’s Studio.

From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., May 25, 1923

Incoming Board of Aldermen to Appoint City Officials, School Board Members, May 25, 1923

Appointments Are in Order. . . First Job of New Board Is to Appoint Officials for the Next Two Years

The incoming Board of Aldermen will on their first meeting June 4, appoint he members of the Police Force, the School Board, the City Manager, the City Auditor, Attorney, Health Officer and various other City Officials to serve or to be served by Elizabeth City for the next two years.

The question of appointing a school board is one of the most important to be considered, yet one which may not take up much time after all. It is hinted around that there will be more than one woman on the school board this time, but no one can tell what the Board of Aldermen will do, or won’t do for that matter. At the present time Elizabeth City has a school board of 16 members, which is considered by the more progressive people as being entirely too unwieldy and out of joint. Under the new city charter, there is an opportunity to cut down the number to eight.

The present school board has four members from each ward in the city. They are as follows:

First Ward, N.

Second Ward, N. Burfoot Sr., W.C. S. Leary, Dr. C.B. Williams, Dr. W.W. Sawyer and J.C. Sawyer; Sawyer, M.P. Gallop, and W.H. Jennings

Third Ward, W.L. Small, F.G. Jacocks, Dr. S.W. Gregory, and C.E. Thompson

Fourth Ward, E.F. Aydlett, J.K. Wilson, Mrs. C.P. Brown and B.S. Sawyer. Mrs. C.P. Brown was appointed at the last regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen to fill the unexpired term of C.E. Kramer resigned.

Altho the City Manager plan is often called a farce as conducted in Elizabeth City where the City Manager is invested with no authority other than is left to a street inspector and what is handed out at the regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen, the Board will continue to elect a City Manager. The present salary of the City Manager is $175 a month, but the Board can allow up to $3,500 a year.

The City Manager is shown a little deference, for upon his recommendation will be appointed a City Auditor, Tax Collector, Chief of Police and Sanitary Inspector. The City Manager himself will serve as Street Commissioner, and the Chief of Police as Building Inspector and Harbor Master.

The Board of Aldermen reserve for themselves the privilege of appointing a City Attorney and City Health Officer. The City Officials

The city officials who are, and will be in office until June 4 are: J.B. Ferebee, City Manager; J.B. Leigh, City Attorney; Dr. Zenas Fearing, Health Officer; J.H. Snowden, Auditor; G.H. Wood, Tax Collector W.J. Simmons, Sanitary Inspector; L.R. Holmes, Chief of Police; G.W. Twiddy, C.E. Anderson, O.F. Seymour, Charles Gregory, F.T. Winslow and B.F. Roughton, policemen.

From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., May 25, 1923. Obviously something wrong in listing of school board members in first and second ward.