Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VOLUME XXXViI. LAURS LAUEN.,SOUTH CAROLINA. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY,1, 1922-. MOVIE ROOF COLI IN CITY T1oI of DIisaster lenlhes Total of 107 hilled and 31any More Injuired. Itoof G4ive-s Way Under lloaliry Weiht (if Snow. Washington, Jan. 28.--Seventeen personls it least are believed to hILa'e been hilled and scores injured tonight In' the coblapsel -under the weiglt of two feet of snow on the root. of the K(nickerboclcer theater, a motion pic ture house located in tile heart of 'Washinmgtont'%. fash ionable nothwest section. Two hours and a half a(ter the crash, which occurred about nine crash, which occurred about : nitic the number of dead and .injured was wholly lacking as well as estimates of the num-ber of those 1n the thea ter at the time--these estimates rang Ing from 150 to 500, 'although .the thea ter was one of the finest motion plc ture houses .in the city and had accom modations for more than 2,000 specta tors. The naimes of the dead -had not been ascertained by. the. police up to mid night with two exceptions. A liss Costley died of in-juries at the office' of a nearby iphysician. The other known( dead is Mrs. .B. 0. Kovall. Alt was confusion for hours after the crash, while police, firemen, ma rines from the nearby barracks and :soldiers from Walter Reed military - ~hospital strove to burrow -beneath the mass of debris and bing forth those buried thereunder. Scores had been removed from tile edges of the debris and buried to -check up on the number of those tak en to tile hospit-als 1 on whether any -or how many had died after reaching tile hospitals. Every fire station in the city was called upon to, send its crew to thdi :scne and the collection of fIre fight ing apparatus only .added to the con iftusiorti - -. With the arrival of the mariles, 'however, order began to be restored. fmergency hospitals were set In -the 'nelighborhood, some in the homes ot ihdgh. officials of the' government. F'inding the roof 'was composed of sleel and concrete al-most immovable and Impenetrable, the street rail -way, companies of the city and the Washington navy yard were called up ,n to supply 'acetylene torches. With -these more rapid -progress was made .and it was hoped that within a few hours it might' be -pbssible to reach those -buried ibeneath the debris. Attaches of the 13ritish embaiiiy rV Doitd at nidnight 'that t check liad <been made of the staff of that embassy and one found .to have been in attend ance at the theater. Belief was ex -pressed in some quarters that the flinal list of inJured and possibly that of the dead would contain names of well known persons, inasmuch as the ,theater was situated in a section of -thea 'city in which many,. government -.ofiils live. The managemenmt of -tile theater, 'which -was owvned amnd operatedl by 'tite i-Harry 'M. Crandall Company, own.. -er of a number of theaters in- the city, .de4elardd that the building . only re *cently had been Inspected and ap proved and that the collapse of the roof only could -have 'been cattsed by the -tremendous weighlt impoesed by the hea'viest snowf-a11 that has visited Washington since 1899. The roof fell -with such force as - -to drive (bree -concrete ipillara through thelrchstrI-foor, -unrear thie stage; - -hoWevel' "its 'torece was arrested, so -tat the -platform successfully acted -' a ~buffer. ~For this reason, it was -said, several o fthe- musicians escaped. Washington, Jan. 30.'-Official po lice records placed car-ly 'today the known de'ad 'in the Knickerboclier -theatre disaster'- at :107. - 'Ilimination'of duplicated names 'brought the final - total do~w-i frohi 'the-iinofill' peak- 0f -112 at which the toil of the catastrophle was -placed l-ate last nighut. The list of injured stood at 134 with '14 listed cas "sros'ly djufe, . . auth6rit es, 0Oontgng4.thc n a f 'all 'thpse - Wy1O5O 'bos hiad b~ covered up to -inufght from the rutins. - The voluntoer vWorkers, including police, firemen, mnarines a nd pavalry (tVotn -1'ort'Mejer, -hattpractically-con eliuded tiir searcliof the wreokage ,at C~on~aea6{Ieree LAPSES OF WASHINGTON B. F. SDIPSON lEAl) W1'ell Knownt 'itizenl of Gray Coul Section, Passed Away 11oilnesday Mlorning. Gray ou rt, .Jan. 30.-B. F. Siipsonil died early W\ednesday milorning, Janu ary 25th, at his home near Gray Cou rt. Although he had been in iII health for several months his condition seemed greatly inproved, and his death cane as a shock to his family and friends. Mr. !Simnpson was in his seventy fourth year, having been born July 23, 1848. lie was the youngest chilldl of the late William Simpson and Isa bella Henderson, and nyas the last stir viving member of that large family of thirteen children. Of his brothers, live served in the Civil War, two of whom gave theIr lives in the service. His sister, Claricy D. Simpson, pre ceded him to the grave nearly three years hgo. He allied himself with the Old Salem Methodist church at an early age, but this church was merged and trans ferred to the present Shiloh church. Since then lie has been a faithful at tendant at church services until his declining health prevented. At the age of thirty-four' lie was married to Miss Louella G. Power and together they have ridden the billows of life through storm and calm for forty years. After lie married he lived not more than a quarter of a mile from his birthplace. ,Besides his widowl he is survived by seven children: E. C. Simpson, Barks dale; Mrs. W. 'R. Owindg, Owings; Hisses 3Maurie andI 'Florine Simpson, who are connected with the Gastonia City Schools; ~Miss Ora and Messrs. Gene and Algie Simpson, who reside At home. . The eldest child, Willie, died April 11th, 1918, Mr. Simpson was a quiet and unob. trusive citisen. Ho Wg 4 great man but truly he was a good man. Hiis life, though unpretentious, was full Df good will and his motto was t-he 11olden 'Rule. CAUGHT BUT ESCAPES Rish Williams, Wanted for Several Robberies in the County, Captured but. Later. Escapes. Dish Williams, colored,- wanted in ,onnection with aeveral yobberies in the county, was caught Tuesday after ), round up in which the local and ru ral pQhiec took part together with the The negro wiks .first sought-for thea robbery of a Clinton drug store which was broken in on the night of Jan. 5th. He owas also suspected of being connected with the breakin'g in of Curry's store in Gray Court and the robbery that took place there on Jan uary 24th. 'When Williams was captured the day following: the robbery in Gray t'ourt much of the stolen goods from both stores was found on his person, According to bieriff Reid, Williams has previously been convicted of grand larceny and served three years on the chain gang in Greenwood. ' Since the abdie was 'written, Bish Williams 'has gotten further into the limelight by escaping from the coun ty jail. In connection with WVilliams' escalpe, which took 'place Saturday night, M'ario 'Lou Harris, negress, 'was arrested for aiding the prisoner' to es cape and also for having ereceived stolen goods, Sheriff Rej'd stated to a reporter that the negress supplied Williams wvith a chanige of clothes about dusk Saturday. Williams effde-ted -his escape shortly after-'dark. When first questioned re garding h' gonnpetion uwith the case, the .negress denied any knowledge of the affali,. bit' later, the sheriff said, she admitted hF noinplicity. Diph JWilliauns is dlescribed as being a bright skinnedulegro aboift 25 years old, weighing 160 lbs. and being 5 feet 10 inches .tall, JDeath of a Child ~Mr. and 1~rs. I, Opings, of Gray Court, were sa4$dfd reaved last Mon day wheethqir bigift litle .thftee.yern old chilki, I, C., Jr., wras claimed by death.' The child was greatly beloved by every cone and his untimely deathi *brought, sorrow to all th .family and thoj 'who diad -learned -~ love- him. The parents have the sympathy of their nelghtbqgin their bereavement. SPECIAL TuitAN TrO RtUN THRlSDAY Lecal People to Go to SIparIItibIur'g ''Oiorrowy to Hear. llly Sunday. .JBy special arrangements 'w jih the C. & W. C. railroad, -perfected MoNiday, a special train will -be operated out. of Laurenis 'llu'rsday to enable local people and others of the vicinity to attend the silly StIlnday services and return the same1 evening "lfforts to secure the train last week iell through but .londay morning MIr. Frank C. Aloore, proprietor of the Lau reis lotel, and Mr. F. N. Kennedy got be hind the project and secured 'the guarantee which ti railroad reqiuired to )ut Oil the extra .ervice. The traini will be made up iI Laui rens, leaving here promptly at 12 o'clock, and will return after the ifight service. The Dilly Sunday Special pronises to prove very popular since it will en able those from Lauren.5 and its vi cinity to hear both the afternoon and evening seroillois and return the same dlay. The fare for the round trip has been reduced to a fare and a half. Reservations for seats in the taber nacle will be made In advance for the L.,aurens delegation and all aboird the Billy Sunday Special at Laureng will be given some means of Identilca tion so that they may be recognized as part of the Laurens delegation. Assisting Mr. Moore in the arrange ients are F. N. IKennedy, :H. 'L. Ken nedy, W. G. Lancaster, C. H1-. Roper, -E. It. Blakely, W. R. McCuen, J. H. Nabers, C. II. Hicks, R. 11. Terry. Ii order to accommodate people rrom out of the city who may desire to take advantage of the special tarin, the city authorities have decided to reserve space ol the south side of the p)ublic square as parking s1ace for 1uch car owners who may twant to 3ome here to entrain. The cars will )e given police protection until after .he return of the special train at night. IMlPROVING CLUB LAKE [ands and Teais at Work oi Canal Albout ten teamsafnd- a couple of iozeint ' i d are tiow at work on the -anal and retainipg dam at the Bois Perro count&y club, carrying out 'plans )f the club directors to make the club a'ke a more delightful place to bathe n next summer. The object of the lam and canal is to divert the muddy rater from the hills after rains so that t will not enter the lake Itself. Ef orts in a small way were made last iummer to divert this water, but' it vas finally decided that extensive work Aoul 'have 'to be done to make the ,ffort effective. The club Is spending several thousand dollars to overcome he mud handicap, ,At a recent meeting of. the club di rectors, Mrs. M. J.AMdFadden, of Clin on, was, elected chairman of an on :ertainment committee to attract in terest in the cub during the iwinter ieason. Otiher members of the com rnittee are Mrs. E. 0. Anderson, Mrs. Douglas Gray, Mrs. R. E. Sadler, Mr. W. G. Lancaster and Mr. William A. Mioorehead. The committee already tias under consideration a number of mntertainmlents which are expected to a~ttract a large number of club them bers to the grounds during the re mainder of the winter months. TWO VETERANS GO'NE Iiast Week Saw Two of County's Old Soldiers Pass to Their Reward. The past week had seen two of f lie county's survivors of tihe War Between the States pass' to their reward. Sun day morning Sydney , Armstrong, a gallant soldier in the wvar, passed alway at his home in the Eden section. The funeral was held at Green 'Pond, the service4 ".being - 'largely '.ilttended. The decetisdd Wna 8'4 'years or a .e anld Is survived by a lapw0 family onnec tion. On Monday another gallard, veteran passed in tihe .person of Aoe Moore, who passed away at his ?aine In the E~kom section. 1 Another veteran, Mr.. 1?ock Arm strong, suffered a strok~e. of .paralysis during' the' early part of the week. Late reports *frem hiy bedsidte Indicate that' 5e might *.s(r' vo the shock,, though he ii till y ry ill.-' .Art9ted r. Robbery - Lee Johnson, who claims Florida as his home is in jaii here for~ the rob 'oery~ of the storg of M. 8. Bailey & Monsa inlihton,' Though the .robbery took place .beto'r Christmias, Johnson still had 4In is sehbssioth goods.which police state wa -a part of the toot. 1inhei(rtiitnce Tax 11111, First, of ]tevei nue .11leasures Agreed to Wednesdily. Coitimlibia, Jan. 29.-Taxation prob lems were again the focus of the at teition of both houses of the genertal asseibly last week, the senate agree inhg to the' inhleritaice tax hill with m11inor. amleinments while the houtse passed three more of the new revenuie iteasures and received anotier fron the ways and means comimtittee. 1Te inleritance tax bill, wiclhb is the firAt of the series of eight revenie imteastires, to be passed by the upper hoitse, was agreed to Wediesday at mttidnight, the final vote bringing to aI en1d1 a determitned light to prevent it,* passage. The aletnieits attached to tihei bill by the sentate do not Imla terially affect tile tmeasure alnd are therefore expected to secure tIhe will Sin conur111irence of t-he House. Si; of these reveniue measures are still out the s funa -le'ie r cr it the hands of tle Senate flaitice committee. These include the incoie tax, tle motion picture tax, tite gasolinle tax, the Ity dro-electric tax, and the two corpora tion tax 'bills. The hydro-electric tax, the corporation licentse tax anld tle foreign corporation tax measures were the three revenue bills passed by the lotuse last week. The Senate also gave its aplroval to a joint resolution extending ite tite .for the payment of taxes until June 1 with penalties from one per cent in January to seven per cent, be ginning June 1. 10xecutions, however, would not go into the hands of tile sheriffs until September 1. The reso lution also provides that any person paying taxes withihi tihe time set forth shall be allowed to vote in any gen eral or special election. Resolutions now pending in both houses providing for amendments to the state constitu tion In effect erasing all evidences of: the state's oild tax system, which the revenue billis' message would make obsolete. The hydro-electric :tax hill, which Was passed by the house Wednesday morning, wag the only one of the-new revehue bills agreed to this year to imeet with any noticeable opposition in that body, the two corporation tax measures being sent to the Senate Wednesday night without a dissenting vote. The tax on luxuries, affecting theatre tickets, soft drinks and bev eragps, cigars, cigarettes and all oth er forms of tobacco, tautoniobiles and trucks and small, arms ammunition,. will como up for a debate as a second reading bill Tuesday, having been flxed as a special order for that date immediately after third reading bills. Amendments are now being prepared to the measure to include silk hosiery, silk underwear, etc., among the so called luxuries taxed. The bill because of the large number of persons affect ed 'by its 'provisions is doomed to meet with determined opposition on the floor of tile House, but this opposition, members of the ways and means coi miittee and other proponents of thte bill think, will not possess sttength sutfilcient to kill or emasculate the measure. 01IURfII $TREET' IN MUD Relief is Expected by Thursday. Work Still GAoing On. When it was reported that dutring Satutrday more than twenty-five ears becatme stuck in the mud on Church St., theo Advertiser reporter was eager to learn 'the condition of dhat part of Heb found, when 'he ventured out to Church street, Monday morning, that the trials of automobilists. did not end Saturday since 'ho wvas greeted by four' dars that were stuck fast in what iwas once a sttreet, Relief Is in sightt however since Supt. Philpot qdvises that with .no more rain the street will be opened about Thursday. ,The water line :was opened Monday' afternoon and .progrebs on the balance of the worltis rapidly being made.. County Cotton Ginnings. Cotton ginnings in this coutpy to January 16th, as :published 'by the cen Sus bureau at Washinmgton, were 35,.. '752 .bales as compgred witth 5 848 to the same date last year. Cotton Market Flrmr After several dais of striking ireakc ness, the cotton market sliode4 signs ot t'ength yesterda'y, *h6#ltg a&. vanoes of around 25 -points. Local *pots were quoted at around 16 cents, uwith little being offered. CTRIC LIGHT DER COFMISSION Ol ilie- I s I 1 f11frn l' It ,I II I it deI ('if y n i l clr tI \f ure Ien It it Sitlinu t4'Vsterdil, .\ eIIs-~ia, ihI 1 p uans are o be p1la,( 1 Ni II deir ti calI (ly decided ulponl at aJ i I*l 1,iEet of cominmittees from0 tie ('ny ('oun cil and TLiuren lieuine'55 .'agae, lt in the oflicc.. (0f tie l'eoIpI :Loan & kl''change hank y'esterd(l~ay all (rm)0n. The .oilit Col tlii mtet ll to hear a reotfrom a sialler Cornmittee' from bothIt bodies, a ppointIed .lmonla, to nin ke r'ecoinlienilation s as to how the two city departmelits IIight ht, placed tinider tile collmlissionl plan. Albert C. Todd, 1siq., City Attorney, made the report for tie sithi-coimliittee. tie recon in il dation s thereil being lat er. adopted by the w hole commilttee. Mr. Todd said that the committee had gole Over the sittation '(areftilly and had come to tie( coieltiioii that the simplest and best method of plae ing the two deparitimetis inder Comii missions lW~olld be by having the legis laro'e to amend a certain aIendment to the general law on the subject which had beei passed about twelve years ago which had operated to dis continue the Commission in this city. Mr. Todd stated that the commission form of operating the city liants Were discontinued at that time for reasons with which lie was not entirely fa millar. It was only nCces.sary now, he said, to have the exemptions which applied to Latitrens removed: Under the general law, said Mr. Todd, the commissioners would be three In number and would be electeI by the people for terms of six years. They would hay2 entire charge of the management of the water an1d electric light plants and for the expenditiro of funds provided for their extension or maintenance. They would be re ciuired to make a monthly report to the city council. On motion of Mr. W. L. Gray, the ire port of the committee was adopted qnd Mayor Franks and 'Mr. Tofd were Up pointed a committee .to coffer with the county delegation to secure the nlCeces sary legislative enactment. 11on1d Commission Also The same sub-committe6 made a re port as to its consideratidn of a bond commission. Mr. Todd also reporited on this subject, stating tthat an act would be required In the legislature authorizing such a commission. "The object of the commission, as he out lined and as favored by the committee, ,was to have in charge tihe sale and supervision of bond issues of the city, to safeguard and invest- the sinking funds provided to retire, the various bond issues. This comniission is ap pointive by tile city contieli and is re qiuired to make a report semi-annual ly. On 'motion of 'Mr. Gray tIs report wvas also adopted andl the same com mit~tee appointed to hlaves its recoml mendations placedi In legislative form with the delegation. Discussion of the pr'oposced bond is sties for retirement of' floating indebt edness andl for tile ext'ension of the wvaterworks system came uip for dis- ~' cusslon, .but further action Onl these isues wvas nlot taken fj view of tile fact that a 'petition wat lld have to 1)0 iciclated befor'e anl ele'tiloll could be ordered. Ini rephly to ai (luti~lon. 'rom 'Mr. Ri'. R. Nickels, 'Mayor F'ranlks stated that as far as he knewv tile memilbers of city counicil were in atgreemnent with the ibusiness league on 'the prloposeCd changes inl tile city nublic works. At least, he said, lyheir the matter' camo up~ -sever'al months ago thle changea had tihe unanimous pjproval of coun ciI. Fight Near B'arksdale 0. Y, Hellams, well known farmer of the Barksdalo section, was placed ' utnder $200 .hond iby Magistrate W~right 'Friday on a warrant sworn out against' 'him by Eugene Hanna nyhlo alleged that Hellams fired on 'him wvith a pis t'01 for his refusal to work. Hanna was an employee on the place of Mr. Hfellams. The latter claims that he j shot in self 'deferise, since H*anna4 struck 'him first.. hitting him in the face with a bottle. Ap a result of the difficulty lHanna 'has a flsh wet~1d ini. the leg and tIHellis Is nut inga a brtlised eye.4 WATER AND ELE PLANT UI ('ity Delmoerniice ('111b 3Ieels This; Af. ternloonl to Org'anize filr 31.1-orailly A\eordiig to a notice i publisheI ls(where ini this paper it will be seen that the reguila )i-anntiaIl tinl lig oI the eity demiociatic cldb, lheld for the urpose of organizing for the city prim'atry, is to be held in the ('o-Iit hlolse this afternoon1 at - o'colck. T im' a two yealrs atgo was hle(] On Febrluary 1 7, but in view of I li' short tiije eiremiling before tiat ( date the chitl will have to ta ke undier con silleration the postponelimient until a Iore (listant dflate Ihis year. 'IT' gen ertal election will, fall onl the second 'FTuesdly in April. h'lhe l(Lr approachl of the election has not as yet broi-glIt out any avowed candidates for .the ollices of ilaylor or aldermnenm. It' is generally understood that 'Ex-Mayor C. Ml. 1311)A), now a n uim her of the general assembly, will le a candidate. Jno. A. Franks, the in cumibent, has not stated whethier or not lie nwill be in the race. C. it. Bishop, alderian from Ward -1 and a candidate when M'ayori' Franks was elected to succeed Capt. W. It. Ilichey, has been mentione(d as a pIossible contenler for the honors. He has made no announcement hiiself. MDon 41. Irvin, at present al(lerman from Ward 1, is no longer a resident of that ward an( states that he will not be In the race again. Mr. R. E. Thompson has practically made up his mind to run from that ward, but has made no formal announcement. Mr. R. M. Babb, president of tile club, said yesterday that he - hoped that a large number of citizens would be out at the meeting this afternoon so that the business of the club may receive prompt attention. STAMP VENDING MAIYES NEXT rhese Promise to Iievolutionilzo Sale of 81amnps at Postofiices. 'Vashington, Jan. 29.-"'Face value ror your money and wait on yourself" Is the -principle upon which the new tutomatic coin controlled stamp vend ng machines now being Installed by le postoffice department are operated md the new machines bid fair to revo lutionize the stamp selling business )F the country. The machine delivers, utomatically, face value in stamps ror the amount of money placed In the slot and the six already Installed in Washington by the department have proven an unqiualified success. They are also in successful use In New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, I)eLroit, Philadelphia and Minneapolis. The si-lent 24-hour salesman sells stamps In four different quantities. The first slot delivers five one-Cent stamp~s for a nickel; the second r'e turns a One-cent stamnpI for a penny; the thIrd dlivers five -inwo-cent stamplhs for a dime and tile fourth hland~s out a twvo-cent stamp) for two pennIes. The -coin is dropped into the slot, a small lever pushed and the stamp Is found in- a r'eceptable 'below. Tho machines are practieally "crook-proof" inasmnch as the coin remaIns in eight for some .time after tile lurchase, and the -postoillce de partment puts a sign over each -ma chine, wvarning agaInst the use of any but goodl United States coins. This gives it the same protection that surrounds the mails and as inspectors are constanitly on tihe job, there is lit tIe chance that the most hardened will take a chance of saving a .few pennies by the use of bad coins.. Trhe department through Post master1 General Will JIf. HIays, has Installed thle machines in the pbostofilme and In several.-'public <buildings in Washing ton, the idea being to accommodate persons desiring stamps after regular hours-ak without Walking to the post office. 'They are handsomely construct ed, the case being of mahogany and the frimimings of the finest nickel-sil ver. The niaohiure is expected to greatly faellitate *he 4ale of stamps, . nighmts, Sundaffi, -holid~ys and during mushm hours. It appears to be the one thing needed to enable the government to establish sub-station's in drug stores, hotels, etc., at v'ery .little exrpenke. Washington has taken very -kindly to the "eafeteria" style of stapip pur chasinir.